THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


Ubrary  oj 
AUHED  W.  REA, 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arcinive 

in  2007  witin  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


littp://www.arcliive.org/details/developmentcliaraOOmooriala 


DEVELOPMENT   &   CHARACTER 


GOTHIC    ARCHITECTURE 


^^^^^ 


DEVELOPMENT  &  CHARACTER 


OF 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


BY 


CHARLES    HERBERT    MOORE 


SECOND  EDITION 
REWRITTEN  AND  EN  EAR  GEO 


WITH    TEN    PLATES    IN    PHOTOGRAVURE 
AND   242    ILLUSTRATIONS    IN   THE    TEXT 


THE    MACMILLAN    COMPANY 

LONDON:    MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  LTD. 
1906 

All  rights  re  serried 


Copyright,  1890, 
By  CHARLES   HERBERT   MOORE. 

COI'VKICHT,    1899, 

By  the   MACMILLAN   COMPANY. 


Set  up,  electrotyped,  and  published  August,  18^9.       Reprinted 
February,  1904  ;  June,  1906. 


Nortoooli  prfBB 

J.  S.  Cusliing  &  Co.  —  lierwnk  &  Smitli  Co. 

Norwood,  Mass.,  I'.S.A. 


Drban  PlsoakH 

/\)A 
HlS'd. 


TO 

CHARLES    ELIOT   NORTON,  Litt.D.,  LL.D. 

Professor  of  t\)t  ?J?istorg  of  "3lrt,  ©mcrttus 
in  l^arbarD  ^Hnibcrsitg 

WHOSE    FRIENDSHIP    THROUGH    MANY    YEARS 

HAS    DONE    MUCH    TO    MAKE    POSSIBLE 

WHATEVER   OF   GOOD   MAY   BE   IN   IT 

]i  Bfticate  t!)t0  Book 


PREFACE  TO  THE   FIRST  EDITION 

In  the  following  attempt  to  set  forth  the  development  and 
character  of  Gothic  architecture  I  use  the  term  "  Gothic," 
because  it  has  been  established  by  custom  ;  and  because, 
since  it  was  owing  to  the  infusion  of  Northern  genius  that 
the  style  was  brought  into  being,  it  is  not  an  entirely  inap- 
propriate term.  But  I  use  it  in  a  restricted  sense ;  confining 
it  to  that  style  of  the  Middle  Ages  which  was  the  fullest 
development  of  new  principles,  and  most  distinctly  a  mediaeval 
product.  In  thus  restricting  the  term,  I  am  forced  to  exclude 
the  greater  part  of  what  has  usually  been  called  Gothic  archi- 
tecture, because  of  its  failure  to  exhibit  those  qualities  of 
design  and  construction  which  characterize  the  distinctive  style. 
The  general  term  pointed  arcJiitecture  will  suffice  to  include 
those  other  classes  of  monuments  which  have  been  hitherto 
erroneously  classed  with  Gothic.  The  position  to  which  my 
study  of  the  subject  has  led  me  differs  considerably  from  that 
which  has  hitherto  been  maintained,  especially  by  English 
writers.  In  the  works  of  the  true  Gothic  style  we  have  a 
new  structural  system  carried  out  with  the  strictest  logic,  and 
with  a  controlling  sense  of  beauty.  They  are  works  of  the 
highest  art,  in  which  sound  mechanical  principles  serve  as 
the  secure  foundation  for  the  exercise  of  the  poetic  imagi- 
nation. It  will,  doubtless,  seem  to  readers  already  more  or 
less  familiar  with  the  subject  an  extravagant  position  that 
Gothic  architecture,  as  I  define  it,  was  never  practised  else- 
where than  in  France.  Yet  from  this  position  I  can  see  no 
escape. 

The  French  origin  of  Gothic  is,  indeed,  now  pretty  gen- 
erally admitted  on  the  continent  of  Europe  ;  but  the  exclusive 


viii  PREFACE   TO    THE  FIRST  EDITION' 

claim  of  the  architecture  of  France,  in  the  Middle  Ages,  to 
be  called  Gothic  has  not  before,  so  far  as  I  know,  been  ad- 
vanced. This  being  the  case,  nothing  short  of  a  close  analy- 
sis and  comparison  of  the  different  pointed  styles  of  Europe 
could  be  expected  to  establish  a  view  so  different  from  that 
which  has  commonly  prevailed.  I  have,  therefore,  been  im- 
pelled to  undertake  an  examination  of  the  architecture  of  the 
twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  and  I  have  endeavoured  in 
this  essay  to  illustrate  the  results  of  this  examination  in  a 
clear  and  intelligible  manner,  and  in  such  a  way  that,  so  far 
as  might  be,  the  monuments  should  speak  for  themselves. 
This  examination  I  have  made,  for  the  most  part,  at  first 
hand,  except  in  regard  to  the  architectures  of  Germany  and 
Spain,  my  acquaintance  with  which  is  through  books  and 
photographs  only. 

The  main  conclusions  of  the  book  may,  I  fear,  be  unwel- 
come to  many  English  readers  who  have  regarded  Gothic 
architecture  as  a  no  less  English  than  continental  product. 
But  though,  as  I  believe,  the  English  claim  to  any  share  in 
the  original  development  of  Gothic,  or  to  the  consideration 
of  the  pointed  architecture  of  the  Island  as  properly  Gothic 
at  all,  must  be  abandoned,  there  is  yet  abundant  reason  for 
English  satisfaction  in  English  architecture,  as  one  of  great 
nobleness  and  beauty,  whose  monuments  can  hardly  be  too 
highly  prized  or  too  zealously  protected.  And  if  the  French 
monuments  are  found  to  be  still  more  admirable,  and  to  be 
the  result  of  an  earlier,  a  more  original,  and  a  more  com- 
plete development,  and  even  to  have  furnished  the  chief  in- 
spiration for  what  is  best  in  England,  these  facts  will,  of 
course,  be  acknowledged  so  soon  as  they  are  seen  to  be 
established. 

The  idea  having  widely  prevailed  that  Gothic  was  an  art 
common  to  the  nations  of  the  North,  each  country  has  in 
turn  laid  claim  to  the  superiority  of  its  own  style.  This 
idea,  as  I  endeavour  to  show,  is  incorrect,  and  has  arisen 
from  a  lack  of  discriminating  analysis.  The  peculiarities  of 
pointed  design,  exhibited  by  the  different  countries  of  Europe, 


PREFACE  TO   THE  FIRST  EDITION  ix 

have  hitherto  been  taken  merely  as  local  variations  of  this 
supposed  common  style ;  and  hence  it  has  become  usual  to 
speak  of  French  Gothic,  of  English  Gothic,  and  of  German 
Gothic,  as  if  the  various  types  of  pointed  architecture  in  these 
countries  were  all  equally  Gothic.  Some  writers  have,  in 
recent  times,  gone  farther,  and  have  claimed  for  the  countries 
to  which  they  have  respectively  belonged  the  original  invention 
of  Gothic.  Thus  Rickman  begins  his  well-known  and  valuable 
essay  ^  by  saying :  "  The  science  of  architecture  may  be  con- 
sidered in  its  most  extended  application  to  comprehend  build- 
ings of  every  kind ;  but  at  present  we  must  consider  it  in  one 
more  restricted,  according  to  which  architecture  may  be  said 
to  treat  of  the  planning  and  erection  of  edifices,  which  are 
composed  and  embellished  after  two  principal  modes:  (i)the 
antique,  or  Grecian  and  Roman ;  (2)  the  English  or  Gothic." 
Some  German  writers  have  maintained  with  equal  assurance 
that  to  German  genius  is  due  the  origin  and  development  of 
Gothic  art ;  while  the  French,  though  generally  manifesting  a 
preference  for  their  own  style,  have  perhaps  made  no  greater 
claim  than  either  the  English  or  the  Germans  to  its  original 
authorship. 

Thus  has  a  true  understanding  of  the  arts  of  the  Middle 
Ages  been  retarded ;  and  the  disesteem  with  which,  in  some 
quarters,  since  the  time  of  Vasari,  the  Gothic  style  has  been 
regarded  is  not  unnatural.  While  the  whole  pointed  archi- 
tecture of  Europe  is  taken  together  it  is  not  strange  that  it 
should  appear  as  an  art  without  principles.  But  so  soon  as 
the  principles  of  the  true  style  are  understood,  and  comparison 
of  the  architectures  of  the  different  countries  is  made  by  the 
light  of  them,  the  French  origin  of  Gothic  and  its  exclusive 
existence  in  France  will  be  readily  discerned. 

It  has  been  necessary  to  devote  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  book  to  detailed  descriptions  of  structural  forms  and  ad- 
justments. These  may  prove  tedious  to  the  unprofessional 
reader ;  but  I  have  endeavoured  to  make  them  as  brief  as  was 

1  "  An  Attempt  to  Discriminate  the  Styles  of  Architecture  in  England." 


X  PREFACE   TO   THE  FIRST  ED  IT/OAT 

consistent  with  thoroughness,  and  to  express  myself,  as  far  as 
possible,  in  terms  that  may  be  generally  understood. 

The  illustrations  to  the  book  have  been  reproduced  either 
on  wood  or  by  mechanical  process  from  drawings,  the  most 
of  which  were  made  on  the  spot,  or  from  photographs,  by 
myself.  For  some  of  the  illustrations  of  sculpture  the  draw- 
ings have  been  made  from  photographs  by  my  daughter,  and 
several  of  the  most  elaborate  illustrations  of  entire  buildings 
have  been  drawn  from  photographs  for  the  engraver  by 
Mr.  H.  W.  Brewer  of  London,  the  well-known  architectural 
draughtsman. 

I  am  indebted  for  help  in  gathering  materials,  and  in 
other  ways,  to  the  kindness  of  many  persons ;  but  most  espe- 
cially to  M.  I'Abbe  Miiller  of  Senlis,  to  the  Very  Reverend 
William  Butler,  Dean  of  Lincoln,  to  my  architect  friends, 
Messrs.  A.  H.  Mackmurdo  of  London,  and  W.  P.  P.  Long- 
fellow and  C.  A.  Cummings  of  Boston,  Massachusetts,  to  my 
friends.  Professor  George  H.  Palmer  and  Mr.  Wm.  C.  Lane 
of  Cambridge,  Massachusetts  (the  latter  of  whom  has  prepared 
the  index),  and,  above  all,  to  my  friend.  Professor  C.  E.  Norton 
of  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  without  whose  critical  revision 
I  should  hardly  have  wished  to  publish  the  book. 

Cambridge,  Mass., 
October  J  1889. 


PREFACE  TO  THE  SECOND  EDITION 

I  HOPE  that  this  new  edition  of  my  "Gothic  Architecture" 
will  be  found  to  show  substantial  improvement  upon  the  earlier 
one.  The  book  has  been  almost  completely  rewritten,  and 
much  new  matter  has  been  added.  The  wholly  new  chapter 
on  the  "  Sources  of  Gothic  "  fills  a  gap  which  needed  filling ; 
and  the  reconstruction  and  enlargement  of  the  following  chap- 
ters will  render  them,  I  trust,  more  interesting  as  well  as  more 
useful. 

A  considerable  time  spent  in  France,  in  the  year  1893, 
gave  me  opportunity  to  examine  a  large  number  of  early 
Gothic  buildings,  some  of  which  I  had  before  known  very 
imperfectly;  and  some  I  had  not  known  at  all.  The  most 
important  of  these  I  examined  with  great  thoroughness  — 
making  measured  drawings  of  their  structural  systems ;  and 
finding  in  them  many  things  which  seem  to  throw  fresh  light 
on  the  early  formation  of  the  Gothic  style.  The  most  impor- 
tant results  of  these  observations  are  now  incorporated  in  the 
book. 

To  elucidate  the  text  adequately  it  was  necessary  to  prepare 
many  new  illustrations;  and  in  order  to  secure  harmony  in  the 
general  appearance  of  the  pages,  the  woodcuts  of  the  old  edi- 
tion have  been  replaced  by  process  blocks  made  from  my  own 
drawings,  and  from  photographs,  or  by  photogravure  plates 
from  photographs.  Among  the  wholly  new  illustrations  are 
a  few  by  my  daughter,  which  are  indicated  by  her  initials. 
The  structural  drawings  and  profiles  of  mouldings  are  not  in 
all  cases  made  to  scale.  When  my  time  on  the  spot  was 
limited,  and  there  seemed  no  imperative  need  for  accurate 
measurements,  I  trusted  my  eye.     In  the  list  of  illustrations  it 


Xii  PREFACE  TO   THE  SECOND  EDITION 

will  be  found  stated  whether   a   given  drawing  was    made   to 
scale,  or  by  eye  alone. 

To  my  friend,  Professor  Norton,  I  am  again  indebted  for 
many  important  suggestions,  and  a  complete  revision  of  the 
text ;  but  he  is  in  no  wise  responsible  for  any  of  my  statements. 
I  have  also  again  had  much  valuable  help  from  my  friend,  Mr. 
W.  P.  P.  Longfellow,  and  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  C.  Enlart  of 
Paris  for  his  kindness  in  furnishing  me  several  important 
photographs  made  by  himself.  By  an  inexcusable  inadver- 
tence I  omitted,  in  the  first  edition,  to  acknowledge  my  obliga- 
tion to  Mr.  Wm.  Atkinson  of  Boston  for  a  drawing  of  the 
clerestory  of  Salisbury  Cathedral,  which  he  took  the  pains  to 
make  for  me  on  the  spot.  A  reproduction  of  this  drawing 
reappears  in  Fig.  119  of  the  present  edition.  I  am  indebted 
to  Mr.  Louis  Pulsifer  for  valuable  notes  and  measurements 
taken  for  me  at  Meaux ;  and  to  Miss  Grace  Reed  I  owe  my 
thanks  for  the  careful  manner  in  which  she  has  prepared  the 
new  index,  which  is  modelled  on  the  admirable  one  made  for 
the  former  edition  by  Mr.  Wm.  C.  Lane,  now  Librarian  of  Har- 
vard College.  To  my  publishers  also  my  thanks  are  due,  for 
the  liberal  spirit  in  which  they  have  met  my  wishes  in  regard 
to  the  general  make-up  of  both  editions  of  the  book. 

CAMBRmcE,  Mass., 
May,  1899. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   I 

Preliminary  Definition  of  Gothic 

Incorrect  ideas  respecting  Gothic  architecture — Aversion  to  the  pointed  style  first 
arose  in  Italy  —  This  style  naturally  unsuited  to  Italian  tastes  and  traditions  — 
Gothic  art  an  outgrowth  —  The  genius  of  the  north  modified  by  that  of  the 
south  —  The  abandonment  of  Gothic  architecture  coincident  with  the  growth 
of  artificial  conditions  of  society  —  The  architecture  of  the  Renaissance  not  a 
popular  architecture  —  Awakening  of  an  antiquarian  interest  in  the  pointed 
Styles  —  Growth  of  a  spirit  of  investigation  —  English  and  continental  miscon- 
ceptions of  Gothic  —  Architectural  styles  distinguished  primarily  by  structural 
characteristics  —  The  Gothic  an  organic  system  —  Its  evolution  out  of  the 
Romanesque — The  Roman  constructive  system  —  Early  Romanesque  develop- 
ments—  The  structural  advantages  of  the  pointed  arch — The  flying  buttress  — 
Summary  of  the  structural  characteristics  of  Gothic  —  The  system  developed  in 
three-aisled  buildings  —  Rudeness  not  a  characteristic  of  Gothic  art  —  Painting 
and  stained  glass — Living  character  of  Gothic  sculpture  —  Antique  elements  in 
Gothic  ornamentation  —  Conventional  character  of  Gothic  ornament  —  Organic 
treatment  of  constituent  elements  in  Gothic  ornament  —  Architectural  fitness 
of  Gothic  sculpture  —  Gothic  art  of  short  duration — The  cathedral  the  central 
object  of  popular  interest  —  The  monastic  activities  in  building — Part  taken 
by  the  laity  in  the  development  of  the  Gothic  style  —  Gothic  architecture  mainly 
an  architecture  of  churches  —  Sources  of  inspiration  —  Gothic  art  native  to 
France Pages  1-28 


j^ 


CHAPTER   n 

The  Sources  of  Gothic 


Beginning  of  the  evolution  of  the  architecture  of  the  Middle  Ages  —  Quicherat's  defi- 
nition of  Romanesque — The  earliest  departures  from  the  principles  of  Roman 
art  made  in  the  East — The  architecture  of  Central  Syria  —  Ancient  use  of  the 
arch  on  columns  in  Persia  —  Byzantine  innovations  —  Conditions  of  Western 
Europe  in  the  early  Middle  Ages  —  The  church  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  —  Rise  and 
character  of  the  Lomljard  Romanesque  —  Alternate  and  uniform  types  of 
vaulted  structures  —  The  Rhenish  Romanesque  —  The  Romanesque  of  Southern 
Gaul  —  Its  unprogressive  character  —  Sporadic  types  of  Romanesque — Mixed 
forms  of  Romanesque  —  The  Burgundian  Romanesque — The  organic  system 
here  applied  to  buildings  of  the  uniform  type — The  Norman  Romanesque  — 


xiv  CONTENTS 

The  naves  of  early  Norman  structures  generally  not  vaulted  —  The  Normans 
not  logical  designers  —  Norman  vaulting  of  naves  in  the  twelfth  century  — 
Romanescjue  of  the  Ile-de-France  —  Early  churches  in  -this  province  usually 
moderate  in  scale  —  Aisle  vaulting  of  the  church  of  Morienval  —  Rapid  progress 
in  organic  construction  after  the  close  of  the  eleventh  century  —  P'uUest  develop- 
ment of  Romanesque  reached  in  St.  Etienne  of  Beauvais  —  Definition  of  the 
term  transitional         .........         Pages  29-57 

CHAPTER    III 

Gothic  CoxsiRucrioN  in  France 

I.    The  Beginnings  of  Gothic 

Region  of  the  early  Gothic  movement  —  Existing  buildings  the  only  sources  of 
information  —  Eirst  structural  use  of  the  pointed  arch  in  the  vaulting  of  the 
apse  of  Morienval  —  Early  progress  of  pointed  vaulting  in  the  aisle  of  Bury  — 
\'aulting  and  system  of  the  nave  of  Bury —  Early  progress  in  the  vaulting  of  the 
apse  in  Berzy-le-Sec  and  St.  Martin-des-Champs — Remarkable  advance  shown 
in  the  church  of  St.  Germer-de-Ely  —  Composition  of  the  pier  and  early  experi- 
ments in  the  adjustments  of  vault  ribs  adjoining  the  apse  —  Retention  of  Roman- 
esque forms  in  the  triforium  of  St.  Germer — Rudimentary  flying  buttress  system 
of  St.  Germer  —  Want  of  agreement  between  the  interior  and  the  exterior  of 
transitional  buildings  —  Structural  innovations  begin  in  the  interior  —  Further 
developments  in  the  vaulting  of  apsidal  aisles  in  St.  Maclou  of  Pontoise  and 
St.  Denis  —  The  distinctively  Gothic  arrangement  of  diagonal  ribs  in  apsidal 
aisle  vaulting  established  in  St.  Denis  —  Pointed  arch  first  used  in  window  open- 
ings in  St.  Denis — Irregularities  of  form  inherent  in  the  Gothic  system  —  But 
these  irregularities  give  an  added  charm  —  Forms  of  vaulting,  and  adjustment 
of  ribs  in  the  apsidal  aisles  of  St.  Louis  of  Poissy,  and  the  Cathedral  of  Sens  — 
Quadripartite  vaulting  system  of  the  Cathedral  of  Noyon  —  Sexpartite  system 
of  the  Cathedral  of  Senlis  —  Vaulting  of  the  Abbaye-aux-Uommes  and  that 
of  Senlis  compared  —  Great  perfection  of  masonry  in  Senlis  —  System  of  St. 
CJermain-des-Pres  —  Characteristics  of  the  naves  of  transitional  monuments  — 
The  oblong  quadripartite  vault  the  earliest  and  most  prevalent  form  of  Gothic 
vault 58-109 

CHAPTER    IV 

Gothic  Construction  in  France 

II.     Later  Stklctl-ral  Developments 

The  quadripartite  and  sexpartite  forms  of  vaulting  used  contemporaneously,  but  in 
the  older  cathedrals  the  sexpartite  form  is  the  more  common  —  Structural  prog- 
ress exhibited  in  the  Cathedral  of  Paris  —  Vaulting  systems  of  the  choir  and  nave 
of  Paris  —  Vaulting  systems  of  Mantes,  Laon,  Bourges,  Sens,  and  Dijon  — 
Among  these  systems  the  most  logical  are  the  earliest — The  Cathedral  of 
Meaux  exhibits  an  early  instance  of  the  uniform  type  of  structure  carried  out 
with  lightne-,s  and  elegance  —  The  systems  of  St.  Vved  of  Braisne,  Lisieux,  and 


CO.YTENTS  XV 

Gisors  —  Great  variety  of  arrangements  and  adjustments  exhibited  by  early 
Gothic  buildings  —  Developments  of  the  pier  in  the  early  thirteenth  century  — 
Its  first  modifications  consequent  upon  new  adjustments  of  the  abacus  to  its  load 
in  the  ground-story  arcade  —  Structural  reason  for  the  stilting  of  the  longitudi- 
nal rib  in  clerestory  vaulting  —  Vaulting  systems  of  the  Cathedral  of  Chartres, 
St.  Pierre  of  Chartres,  Reims,  Amiens,  St.  Denis,  and  Beauvais  —  Buttress  sys- 
tems of  St.  Martin  of  Laon,  St.  Germain-des-Pres,  St.  Leu  d'Esserent,  Xoyon, 
Soissons,  Amiens,  and  Reims  —  Evolution  of  the  pinnacle        .       Pages  1 10-152 


CHAPTER  V 

Gothic  Construction  in  France 

III.     Modes  of  Enclosure  and  Gener.\l  Forms 

Modes  of  enclosure  in  the  clerestory  and  the  aisle  —  Development  of  the  opening  in 
the  clerestory  of  Paris  —  Adumbrations  of  the  Gothic  compound  opening  in  the 
early  Christian  architecture  of  Central  Syria  and  in  that  of  Byzantium  —  Devel- 
opment of  tracery  in  the  openings  of  St.  Leu  d'Esserent,  Soissons,  and  Reims  — 
Entire  omission  of  the  wall  in  Amiens  and  other  developed  Gothic  buildings  — 
Character  of  the  developed  Gothic  triforium  —  The  developed  Gothic  apse  — 
Adjustments  of  the  rib  system  in  the  vaulting  of  the  apse — Illustration  of  the 
flexibility  of  the  Gothic  system  in  the  vaulting  of  the  apsidal  aisle  of  Paris  — 
Apsidal  chapels  —  General  effect  of  the  combination  of  apse,  apsidal  aisle,  and 
apsidal  chapels  —  Various  forms  of  the  transept  —  The  transept  fa9ade  — 
Development  of  the  western  facade  in  the  Abbaye-aux-Hommes,  Senlis,  Paris, 
Amiens,  Reims,  and  other  buildings  —  Structural  characteristics  of  the  western 
fagade  —  Development  of  the  spire  in  Morienval,  St.  Contest,  Chamant,  Chartres, 
Senlis,  and  other  buildings  —  General  form  and  aspect  of  the  Gothic  edifice  — 
Few  Gothic  structures  ever  completed  according  to  one  original  design  —  Gen- 
eral and  spontaneous  character  of  the  Gothic  movement  in  France  —  Mechanical 
invention  and  artistic  feeling  equally  manifest  in  Gothic  art  —  Full  development 
of  Gothic  reached  by  1220         ........        153-190 

CHAPTER  VI 

Pointed  Construction  in  England 

Rare  occurrence  of  the  pointed  arch  and  of  groin  ribs  in  England  before  the  last 
quarter  of  the  twelfth  century  —  Approach  to  Gothic  principles  in  the  aisle 
vaults  of  Malmesbury  Abbey — Little  approach  to  Gothic  character  in  the 
buildings  which  immediately  follow  Malmesbury  —  Structural  systems  of  Foun- 
tains and  Kirkstall  —  No  important  advance  in  England  till  after  the  building 
of  the  choir  of  Canterbury  —  Structural  system  of  Canterbury  —  .Structural  system 
of  C  hichester  —  Structural  system  of  the  choir  of  Lincoln  —  Comparison  of  the 
crossing  piers  of  Lincoln  and  Canterbury  —  St.  Mary,  New  Shoreham  —  Byland, 
Whitby,  and  Rievaulx —  The  choir  of  Ripon  —  General  lack  of  unity  of  principle 
and  rarely  any  true  Gothic  character  in  the  later  pointed  buildings  of  England  — 
Multiplication  of  ribs  in  later  English  vaulting  —  Composition  of  English  piers 


xvi  CONTENTS 

—  Buttress  system  and  clerestory  of  the  nave  of  Lincoln  —  Structural  system 
of  Salisbury  —  Structural  system  of  Wells  compared  with  that  of  the  Abbaye-aux- 
Dames  —  The  Presbytery  of  Lincoln  — The  nave  of  Lichfield —  Modes  of  enclos- 
ure—  Characteristics  of  the  east  end — Transept  ends — West  fronts — General 
proportions  —  Towers  and  spires  —  Structural  features  of  the  chapter-house  — 
Vaulting  of  rare  occurrence  in  the  smaller  churches  of  England      Pages  191-236 

CHAPTER   VII 
Pointed  Construction  in  Germany 

Slowness  of  (Germany  to  adopt  new  principles  in  building  —  The  Cathedral  of  Speyer 
an  almost  unmodified  Romanesque  structure  —  The  vaulting  of  Worms  —  The 
system  of  Bamberg  shows  little  advance  —  Some  Gothic  features  in  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Magdeburg  —  Nearer  approach  to  Gothic  in  the  Cathedral  of  Limt)urg  on 
the  Lahn  —  Its  likeness  to  Noyon  —  Persistence  of  Romanesque  forms  in  the 
vaulting  of  its  aisles  —  System  of  St.  Gereon  of  Cologne  —  System  of  the  Lieb- 
frauenkirche  of  Trier  —  Its  derivation  from  St.  Yved  of  Braisne  —  Impost  of  the 
Liebfraucnkirche  compared  with  an  impost  of  Braisne  —  Ponderous  character 
of  the  apse  of  Ileisterbach  —  St.  Kunibert  of  Cologne  —  St.  Elizabeth  of  Mar- 
burg—  SS.  Peter  and  Paul  at  Xeuweiler — Slow  and  imperfect  apprehension 
of  Gothic  principles  shown  in  most  pointed  German  buildings  of  the  early 
thirteenth  century  —  Freiburg  and  Strasliurg  —  Cologne  Cathedral — Its  deriva- 
tion from  Amiens  and  Beauvais  —  The  perfectly  Gothic  character  of  its  structural 
system  —  Unprecedented  development  of  the  triforium  openings  in  Cologne  — 
Western  facades  —  Transept  ends  —  Towers  and  spires      .         .         .        237-259 

CHAPTER   VIII 
Pointed  Construction  in  Italy 

Persistence  of  classic  traditions  in  Italy — Introduction  of  Burgundian  pointed  archi- 
tecture by  the  Cistercian  order  —  Character  of  this  architecture  —  Two  types 
of  it,  both  reproduced  in  Italy  —  The  church  of  San  Galgano  compared  with 
that  of  Pontigny  —  Uncertainty  as  to  the  time  when  native  Italians  began  to  use 
the  pointed  arch  —  Building  activity  of  the  Dominican  and  Franciscan  orders  — 
The  church  of  St.  Andrea  of  Vercelli  — The  church  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi  — 
Its  lack  of  Gothic  character —  The  church  of  St.  Francis  of  Bologna  — Its  Gothic 
features  —  Evidence  of  foreign  influence  in  the  foregoing  buildings  —  The  church 
of  Sta.  Maria  Novella  —  The  first  of  the  distinctively  Italian  type  —  Characteristics 
of  this  type  — The  church  of  Sta.  Croce  —  Peculiar  type  of  pointed  architecture 
in  the  province  of  Venetia  — The  church  of  the  Frari,  Venice  — The  church  of 
St.  Anastasia,  Verona  — The  Cathedral  of  Siena  — The  nave  of  Orvieto  — The 
Cathedral  of  Florence— The  church  of  San  Petronia  of  Bologna— The  nave 
of  Lucca  —  Instance  of  the  Gothic  form  of  pier  in  Sta.  Maria  della  Pieve  at 
Arezzo  —  Character  of  the  opening  in  the  pointed  architecture  of  Italy  —  The 
Cistercian  west  front  —  General  lack  of  conformity  of  the  western  facade  with 
the  main  body  of  the  building  —  Character  of  the  east  end  and  the  transept  ends 
Lack  of  Gothic  character  in  the  Italian  tower — The  true  spire  never  con- 
structed in  Italy  —  General  form  of  the  Italian  pointed  l)uilding         .       260-2S3 


CONTEIVTS  xvii 

CHAPTER   IX 
Pointed  Construction  in  Spain 

No  important  native  architecture  in  Spain  during  the  early  Middle  Ages  —  Introduc- 
tion of  pointed  architecture,  like  that  of  Burgundy  and  Aquitaine,  in  the  twelfth 
century  —  The  old  Cathedral  of  Salamanca  —  Peculiarities  of  this  building  — 
Likeness  of  its  lantern  to  early  Gothic  spires  in  France — The  nave  of  San  Vin- 
cent of  Avila  —  The  church  of  Santa  Maria  de  Irache — The  churches  of  Lerida, 
Tudela,  Tarragona,  and  Veruela  —  The  church  of  Las  Huelgas  of  Burgos  —  No 
signs  of  local  organic  development  in  these  buildings  —  Older  modes  of  building 
practised  contemporaneously,  as  in  the  Imrrel-vaulted  nave  of  N.  Sra.  de  la  Sierra 
of  Segovia  —  The  fully  ^leveloped  Gothic  of  France  reproduced  in  Spain  about 
the  second  quarter  of  the  thirteenth  century  —  The  Cathedral  of  Burgos  —  The 
Cathedral  of  Toledo  — The  Cathedral  of  Leon  —  Likeness  of  its  apse  to  that  of 
Reims  —  The  later  pointed  buildings  of  Spain  have  less  Gothic  character  — 
Other  than  French  influences  apparent  in  them  —  Modes  of  enclosure  not  of  a 
strictly  Gothic  character  in  Spain  at  any  epoch  —  Leon  an  exceptional  building 
in  this  respect  —  Variety  of  treatment  exhiliited  in  the  Spanish  west  front  — 
East  ends  and  transept  ends  —  Towers  and  spires     .         .         .       Pages  284-303 


CHAPTER  X 

Gothic  Profiles  in  France 

The  profiling  of  Gothic  members  a  result  of  functional  adaptation,  as  well  as  of 
artistic  feeling  —  The  mechanical  function  of  the  capital  not  consistently  recog- 
nized by  Roman  and  Romanesque  builders  —  Logical  innovations  in  the  form 
of  the  capital  wrought  by  the  Byzantine  designers  —  Capitals  of  Sta.  Maria  in 
Cosmedin  —  Imperfect  development  of  the  capital  in  the  Lombard  Romanesque 

—  Capitals  of  Jumieges  —  In  France,  after  the  eleventh  century,  an  effective 
adjustment  of  the  shaft  to  the  load,  by  means  of  a  spreading  capital,  became 
constant  —  Influence  of  Byzantine  models  on  the  forms  of  capitals  in  the  early 
Gothic  style  —  The  thickness  of  the  aljacus  largely  determined  by  the  spread 
of  the  capital  —  The  Gothic  capital  wrought  out  of  one  block  of  stone  —  The 
Gothic  abacus  usually  square  in  plan  —  Profiling  of  the  abacus — The  finest  types 
of  capitals  belong  to  the  early  Gothic  period  —  Changes  in  the  form  of  the 
capital  consequent  on  changes  in  the  arch  section  —  The  Gothic  base  a  modifica- 
tion of  the  ancient  Attic  base  —  Its  plinth  more  developed  on  account  of  struc- 
tural exigencies — The  angle  spur  —  The  spread  of  the  base  usually  increased 
as  the  diameter  of  the  shaft  is  diminished — Diminution  of  the  plinth,  and 
change  of  its  form,  in  the  later  Gothic  style  —  Great  elegance  of  base  profiles 
in  the  best  period  of  Gothic  art  —  Profiles  of  string-courses  —  Evolution  of  the 
drip  moulding  —  Arch  mouldings — Change  in  the  arrangement  of  grouped 
abaci  consequent  on  changes  in  arch  profiles  —  Evolution  of  muUion    profiles 

—  External  hood-mouldings     ........         304-337 


xviii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   XI 

Profiles  of  the  Twelfth  and  Thirteenth  Centuries  in  England 

Superior  character  of  the  profiles  of  early  capitals  in  England  —  French  character 
manifest  in  capitals  of  the  choir  aisle  of  Lincoln  —  Anglo-Norman  imitations 
of  French  work — The  wreathed  type  of  capital  —  Extravagant  ornamentation 
of  later  English  capitals  —  The  moulded  capital  —  Profiles  of  bases  —  String  j)ro- 
files —  Frequent  use  of  the  corbel-table  in  the  pointed  architecture  of  England  — 
Internal  string  profiles  —  Profiles  of  arch  mouldings  —  Profiles  of  vault  ribs  — 
Multiplication  of  members  in  Anglo-Norman  mouldings   .         .      Pages  338-352 

CHAPTER   XH 

Profiles  of  the  Twelfth  and  Thirteenth  Centuries  in   Germany, 

Italy,  and  Spain 

No  departure  from  Romanesque  profiling  in  Germany  during  the  twelfth  century  — 
Prevalence  of  the  cushion-shaped   capital  during  the  early  thirteenth  century 

—  Gothic  type  of  capital  introduced  by  the  second  quarter  of  the  thirteenth 
century  —  Distinctively  German  type  of  capital  developed  thereafter  —  Charac- 
teristics of  this  type — The  profiling  of  German  bases  —  Profiles  of  archivolts, 
vault  ribs,  and  string-courses  in  Germany  —  No  systematic  principles  govern  the 
profiles  of  Italian  pointed  buildings  —  Prevalence  of  Gothic  profiles  in  the  Cis- 
tercian architecture  of  Italy  —  Characteristic  types  of  capitals  in  Italy  —  Profiles 
of  Italian  bases  —  Archivolts,  string-courses,  and  vault  ribs  —  No  important 
native  profile  developments  in  Spain         ......         353~359 

CHAPTER  XIII 
Gothic  Sculpture  in  France 

Development  of  mediteval  sculpture  in  France  antecedent  to  that  of  other  countries 

—  Sources  of  instruction  open  to  the  early  Gothic  sculptors  —  Survival  of  Greek 
traditions  —  New  life  manifest  early  in  the  art  of  Burgundy —  Exceptional  condi- 
tions favourable  to  the  growth  of  sculpture  in  the  Ile-de-France  —  The  sculptures 
of  St.  Denis  and  Chartres  compared  with  the  sculptures  of  St.  Trophime  at  Aries 

—  The  human  figure  not  employed  as  a  caryatid  in  Gothic  architecture  —  Statues 
not  placed  in  niches — Relation  of  sculpture  to  structural  elements  in  CJothic 
art — Early  reliefs  of  St.  Denis  and  Paris  manifest  a  new  spirit — Qualities  of 
design,  execution,  and  sentiment  in  the  reliefs  of  the  lintel  of  Senlis —  Elements 
common  to  Greek  and  mediaeval  sculpture  —  Superior  freedom  of  the  architec- 
tural sculpture  of  the  early  thirteenth  century  —  Sculptures  of  the  fa9ade  of  Paris 

—  Points  of  similarity  in  the  Greek  and  mediaeval  genius  —  The  statue  of  the 
Virgin  in  the  portal  of  the  north  transept  of  Paris  —  Statue  of  the  Virgin  in  the 
south  portal  of  Amiens  —  Gothic  sculpture  the  first  in  which  expression  pre- 
dominates over  form  —  Bodily  beauty  not,  however,  ignored  by  the  Gothic 
carvers  —  Significance  of  the  grotesque  element  in  Gothic  art — The  artists  of 


COXTENTS  xix 

the  Ile-de-France  the  first  to  emancipate  foliate  sculpture  from  old  conventions 
—  Expression  of  nature  in  early  foliate  carving  —  Early  motives  for  ornament 
derived  from  the  leafage  of  springtime —  Delicacy  of  execution  in  Gothic  sculp- 
ture—Monumental fitness  always  regarded  by  the  early  carvers — Excessive 
naturalism  of  the  later  Gothic  carvings  —  The  quality  of  breadth  in  Gothic  art  — 
The  colouring  of  Gothic  sculpture    ......       Pages  360-399 

CHAPTER  XIV 

Sculpture  of  the  Twelfih  and  Thirteenth  Centuries  in  England 
AND  Other  Countries 

Rare  occurrence  of  figure  sculpture  in  connection  with  the  pointed  architecture  of 
England  —  Norman  sculptures  of  Lincoln  and  Ely  —  Exceptional  character 
of  the  sculptures  of  Wells  — Their  lack  of  relation  to  the  structural  system  — 
Their  naturalistic  character  —  Their  rudeness  of  execution  —  The  reliefs  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Lincoln  —  Lack  of  artistic  capacity  displayed  in  Anglo-Norman 
foliate  carving  —  Artificial  conventions  in  such  carving — Figure  sculpture  not 
generally  employed  as  an  architectural  adjunct  in  the  pointed  architecture  of 
Germany  —  Figure  sculpture  of  the  Liebfrauenkirche  of  Trier —  Its  imperfect 
relation  to  the  architecture  —  The  statues  of  Strasburg  —  Characteristics  of  Ger- 
man foliate  sculjiture  —  Late  development  of  figure  sculpture  in  Italy — Italian 
sculpture  an  individual,  rather  than  a  communal,  product  —  Italian  sculpture  not 
closely  related  to  architecture  —  Prevalence  of  relief  sculpture  in  Italy  —  Two 
elements  conspicuous  in  Italian  sculpture  — Classic  elements  in  the  art  of  Niccola 
Pisano  —  Nearer  approach  to  Gothic  character  in  the  art  of  the  followers  of  Nic- 
cola—  Character  of  foliate  sculpture  in  Italy  —  Imitation  of  nature  a  conspicuous 
tendency  in  this  sculpture  —  No  important  developments  in  sculpture  ever  pro- 
duced in  Spain  —  The  French  character  of  the  best  Spanish  carving    .     400-414 

CHAPTER  XV 

Gothic  Painting  and  Stained  Glass  in  France 

Rare  occurrence  of  figure  painting  in  connection  with  Gothic  architecture  —  The 
Gothic  art  of  figure  paintmg  illustrated  in  the  manuscripts  of  the  twelfth  and 
thirteenth  centuries  —  This  art  not  developed  beyond  primitive  symbolic  condi- 
tions—  Characteristic  conventions  of  Gothic  figure  painting  —  Chromatic  design 
in  Cilothic  art  developed  chiefly  in  stained  glass  —  The  inherent  conventions  and 
limitations  of  this  art  —  Its  pictorial  character  not  capa!)le  of  right  development 
beyond  the  conditions  which  were  reached  in  the  Middle  Ages  —  The  stained 
glass  of  St.  Denis,  Chartres,  Paris,  and  other  Gothic  buildings     .         .      415-420 

CHAPTER   XVI 
Painting  and  Stained  C^lass  in  England  and  Other  Countries 

No  independent  developments  in  painting  in  England  or  other  countries  of  Europe 
during  the  early  Middle  Ages  —  Earliest  development  of  painting  in   Italy  pos- 


w 


XX  CONTENTS 

terior  to  the  epoch  of  Gothic  art  —  Technical  character  of  early  Italian  painting 
—  The  monumental  character  of  this  art  —  Its  union  of  pictorial  and  ornamental 
elements  —  Its  expressional  purpose  —  No  peculiar  styles  of  design  in  stained 
glass  were  produced  in  England,  Germany,  Italy,  or  Spain       .       Pages  421-423 


CHAPTER  XVII 

Concluding  Summary 

The  witness  of  the  monuments  to  the  French  origin  of  Gothic  art  borne  out  by  his- 
torical considerations  —  The  different  and  less  favourable  conditions  for  the 
growth  of  art  in  England  during  the  Middle  Ages  —  Effects  of  the  Norman 
Conquest  —  Native  artistic  activities  —  Slowness  of  the  Germans  to  modify  their 
Romanesque  style  —  German  pointed  architecture  primarily  due  to  French 
influence  —  No  native  development  of  Gothic  art  in  Italy  —  Lack  of  constructive 
character  in  Italian  building ^ — Conditions  in  Spain  during  the  Middle  Ages 
unfavourable  to  an  original  development  of  art         ....         424-428 


LIST   OF    PLATES 


PLATE  PAGE 

I  ......      74 

11 138 

III  .        ,        .        .        .        .160 

IV 178 

V 179 


PLATE  PAGE 

VI 185 

VII 188 

VIII 190 

IX 229 

^ 371 


LIST   OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


FIG. 
I. 


4- 

5- 
6. 

7- 
8. 

9- 
lo. 
II. 

12. 

13- 

14. 

15- 

16. 

17- 
18. 
19. 
20. 
21. 
22. 

23- 

24. 

25. 
26. 

27. 
28. 
29. 
30- 
31- 
32. 

33 


ch-Robert 


Monolithic  Arch  and  Lintel 

Offset  Arch 

Section  of  a  Part  of  the  Flavian  Amphitheatre 

Plan  of  One  Bay  of  the  Basilica  of  Constantino 

Romanesque  Pilaster  Strip 

Romanesque  Buttress  .... 

Section  of  the  Abbaye-aux-Hommes,  from  Rupri 

Section  of  the  Abbaye-aux-Dames,  from  Ruprich-Robert 

Diagram  of  Round-arched  Vault  .... 

Diagram  of  Pointed-arched  Vault         .... 

Plan  of  Amiens  Cathedral,  from  Dehio  and  Von  Bezold 

Plan  of  the  Church  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  from  Dehio  and  Von  Bezold 

System  of  St.  Ambrogio  of  Milan,  from  photograph     . 

Diagram  :   Alternate  and  Uniform  Systems 

System  of  the  Abbaye-aux-Hommes,  from  photograph 

Aisle  Vault  of  Morienval,  from  photograph 

Aisle  Vault  of  St.  Etienne,  Beauvais,  from  photograph 

Diagram  of  Vaulting  of  Bethesy  St.  Pierre 

Diagram  of  Vaulting  of  Apse  of  Morienval 

Perspective  of  Apsidal  Vault  of  Morienval,  from  photograph 

Diagram  of  Vault  of  Bury,  drawn  and  measured  on  the  spot 

Perspective  of  Vault  of  Bury,  from  photograph    . 

System  of  Nave  of  Bury,  from  photograph 

Pointed  Arch  of  St.  Leu  d'Esserent,  from  photograph 

Vault  of  -Xpse  of  St.  Martin  des  Champs,  from  photograph 

Plan  of  Apsidal  \'ault  of  St.  Germer-de-Fly,  drawn  and  measured  on  the 

spot      .......... 

Perspective  of  Apsidal  Vault  of  St.  Germer,  from  photograph 

Section  of  Pier  of  Apse,  St.  Germer,  drawn  and  measured  on  the  spot 

Plan  of  Impost  of  the  Same  Pier,  drawn  and  measured  on  the  spot 

High  Vaulting  Impost  of  St.  Germer,  from  photograph 

Triforium  Gallery  of  St.  Germer,  from  photograph 

Section  of  System  of  St.  Germer,  drawn  and  measured  on  the  spot 

Diagram  of  Vault  of  Apsidal  Aisle  of  Pontoise,  drawn  and  measured  on 

the  spot        ............ 

xxiii 


I 
10 
II 
12 
12 
13 
14 
16 

17 
18 

35 
38 
39 
49 
51 
54 
56 
60 

63 
65 
66 
67 
69 
71 

72 
73 
74 

75 
76 

77 
80 

82 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


e  spot 


FIG. 

34.  Diagram  of  Vaults  of  Apsidal  Aisle  of  St.  Denis,  drawn  and  measured  on 

the  spot        .......... 

35.  Diagram  of  Vault  of  Apsidal  Aisle  of  .Sens,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

36.  Impost  of  Apsidal  Aisle  of  Sens,  from  photograph 

37.  Section  of  Pier  of  Senlis,  drawn  and  measured  on  the  spot 

38.  System  of  Senlis,  drawn  and  measured  on  the  spot 

39.  Section  of  System  of  Senlis,  drawn  and  measured  on  the  spot 

40.  Perspective  of  System  of  Senlis,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

41.  Diagram  of  Vault  of  Apsidal  Aisle  of  Senlis,  drawn  and  measured  on  the 

spot      ......... 

42.  Diagram  of  Vault  of  Apsidal  Aisle  of  Noyon,  from  Vitet 

43.  Section  of  System  of  St.  Germain-des-Pres,  drawn  and  measured  on  th 

44.  Pier  of  Gournay,  from  photograph       ..... 

45.  System  of  St.  Etienne  of  Beauvais,  from  photograph    . 
4C.  Imposts  of  Vaulting,  Choir  of  Paris,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

47.  Imposts  of  Vaulting,  Nave  of  Paris,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

48.  Section  of  Vaulting  Shafts,  Nave  of  Paris,  drawn  by  eye 

49.  Portion  of  Westernmost  Pier,  Mantes,  from  photograph 

50.  Imposts  of  Vaulting,  Laon,  drawn  by  eye     .... 

51.  Section  of  System  of  Meaux,  drawn  and  in  part  measured  on  the  spot 

52.  System  of  Gisors,  from  photograph      ...... 

53.  Impost  Plan,  Choir  of  Paris,  drawn  and  measured  on  the  spot 

54.  Impost  Plan,  Nave  of  Paris,  drawn  and  measured  on  the  spot 

55.  Section  of  Pier,  Nave  of  Paris,  drawn  and  measured  on  the  spot 

56.  Impost  Plan  of  Sixth  Pier,  Paris,  drawn  and  measured  on  the  spot 

57.  Section  of  Seventh  Pier,  Paris,  drawn  and  measured  on  the  spot 

58.  Impost  Plan  of  Seventh  Pier,  Paris,  drawn  and  measured  on  the  spot 

59.  Impost  of  Seventh  Pier,  Paris,  drawn  l)y  eye  on  the  spot 

60.  Section  of  Reinforced  Pier,  Laon,  drawn  by  eye 

61.  Piers  of  Soissons  and  Paris,  from  photographs 

62.  Clerestory  of  St.  Leu  d'Essercnt,  from  photograph 

63.  Diagram,  Section  of  Vaulting  Conoid,  etc.,  drawn  by  eye 

64.  Clerestory  System  of  Chartres,  from  photograph 

65.  Section  of  System  of  St.  Pierre,  Chartres,  drawn  and  measured  on  th 

66.  Clerestory  System  of  Amiens,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

67.  Westernmost  Vaulting  Impost  of  Amiens  (plan),  drawn  by  eye  on  th 

68.  Westernmost  \'aulting  Impost  of  Amiens  (perspective),  drawn  by  eye  on 

the  spot        ......... 

69.  Section  of  Pier  of  Beauvais,  drawn  and  measured  on  the  spot 

70.  Vaulting  Impost,  Aisle  of  Beauvais,  from  photograj^h 

71.  Flying  Buttress,  St.  Martin  of  Laon,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

72.  Flying  Buttress,  Apse  of  St.  Leu  d'Esserent,  from  photograph 

73.  Flying  Buttress,  Nave  of  St.  Leu  d'Esserent,  from  photograph 

74.  Flying  Buttress,  Nave  of  Noyon,  from  photograph 

75.  Flying  Buttress,  Apse  of  Soissons,  from  photogra]ih 


spot 
spot 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


XXV 


FIG. 

76.  Flying  Buttress,  Nave  of  Amiens,  from  photograph    . 

77.  Flying  Buttress,  Apse  of  Reims,  from  photograph 

78.  Clerestory,  Nave  of  Paris,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot  . 

79.  Clerestory  Window,  Nave  of  Paris,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

80.  Clerestory  Window,  Nave  of  St.  Leu,  from  photograph 

81.  Triple  Openings,  Qalb-Fouzeh,  from  de  Vogiie  . 

82.  Triple  Openings,  Byzantine  Church,  Athens,  from  photograph 

83.  Opening,  Apse  of  Reims,  from  photograph 

84.  Plan  of  Ribs,  Vaulting  of  Apse,  St.  Germer,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

85.  Plan  of  Ribs,  Vaulting  of  Apse,  Noyon,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

86.  Plan  of  Ribs,  Vaulting  of  Apse,  Paris,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

87.  Plan  of  Ribs,  Vaulting  of  Apse,  Chartres,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

88.  Plan  of  Ribs,  Vaulting  of  Apse,  Amiens,  from  Viollet-le-Duc     . 

89.  Interior  System,  Apse  of  St.  Remi,  Reims,  from  photograph 

90.  Exterior  of  Apse,  St.  Remi,  Reims,  from  photograph 

91.  Diagram  of  Vaults,  Apsidal  Aisle,  Paris,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

92.  Interior  of  Apsidal  Aisle  of  St.  Leu,  from  photograph 

93.  West  Front  of  Champagne,  from  photograph     .... 

94.  West  Front  of  the  Abbaye-aux-IIommes,  from  photograph 

95.  West  Front  of  Senlis,  from  photograph       ..... 

96.  Jointing  of  Masonry,  Senlis,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

97.  Tower  of  Morienval,  from  photograph        ..... 

98.  Tower  of  St.  Contest,  from  photograph       ..... 

99.  Spire  of  Chamant,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot      .... 

100.  Spire  of  Chartres,  from  photograph   ...... 

loi.  Plan  of  Aisle  Vault,  Malmesbury  Abbey,  from  a  drawing  by  a  friend 

102.  Interior  System,  Malmesbury  Abbey,  from  a  photograph    . 

103.  Aisle  Vault  of  Fountains  Abbey,  from  Sharpe    .... 

104.  Impost  of  Fountains,  drawn  by  eye  from  photograph 

105.  Nave  System  of  Kirkstall  Abbey,  from  photograph    . 

106.  System  of  Choir  of  Canterbury,  from  photograph 

107.  Pier  of  Chichester,  from  photograph  ..... 

108.  Plan  of  Original  Apse,  Lincoln,  from  a  drawing  furnished  by  a  friend 

109.  Plan  of  Vault,  Choir  of  Lincoln,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 
I  lo.  Clerestory  of  Choir,  Lincoln,  from  a  photograph 

111.  Section  of  Pier,  Choir  of  Lincoln,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

112.  Section  of  System,  Choir  of  Lincoln,  drawn  and  measured  on  the  spot 

113.  Piers  of  Lincoln  and  Canterbury,  from  photographs  . 

114.  Aisle  Vault  of  Peterborough,  from  photograph 

115.  Plan  of  Vault,  Nave  of  Lincoln,  drawn  l>y  eye  on  the  spot 

116.  Vaulting  Conoid,  Nave  of  Lincoln,  from  photograph 

117.  Pier  Sections,  Nave  of  Lincoln,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

118.  Exterior  of  Clerestory,  Nave  of  Lincoln,  from  photograph 

119.  Vaulting  Conoid,  Salisbury,  from  a  drawing  by  Mr.  William  Atkinson 

120.  System  of  Wells  Cathedral,  from  a  photograph  .... 


PAGE 

151 

155 
156 
157 
157 
158 
162 
162 
163 
164 

165 
167 
168 
169 
171 
174 

175 

176 
177 

183 
184 

185 
186 
192 

193 
194 

195 
196 
197 
199 
202 
203 
204 
205 
206 
207 
212 
213 
214 

215 
216 
217 
219 


XXVI 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


FIG. 

121.  System  of  the  Abbaye-aux-Dames,  from  a  photograph 

122.  Plan  of  Impost,  Presbytery  of  Lincoln,  drawn  by  eye 

123.  Clerestory  of  Presbytery,  Lincoln,  from  a  photograph 

124.  Exterior  of  Clerestory,  Presbytery  of  Lincoln,  from  a  photograph 

125.  Central  Tower  of  Lincoln,  from  a  photograph   .... 

1 26.  System  of  Bamberg,  from  a  photograph 

127.  System  of  Limburg,  from  a  photograph     ..... 

128.  Impost  of  Liebfrauenkirche,  Trier,  from  a  photograph 

129.  Impost  of  Braisne,  from  a  photograph         ..... 

130.  Section  of  St.  Elizabeth,  Marburg,  from  Forster 

131.  Section  of  Poitiers,  from  VioUet-le-Duc      ..... 

132.  Spire  of  St.  Elizabeth,  Marburg,  from  photograph 

133.  System  of  San  Galgano,  from  a  photograph        .... 

134.  System  of  Sta.  Maria  Novella,  from  a  photograph 

135.  Section  of  System  of  Sta.  Maria  Novella,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

136.  Section  of  Pier  of  Florence,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

137.  Elevation  of  Pier  of  Florence,  from  a  photograph 

138.  Tower  of  Sta.  Maria  Novella,  from  a  photograph 

139.  Tower  of  the  Scaligeri,  Verona,  from  a  photograph  . 

140.  System  of  Salamanca,  from  a  photograph  ..... 

141.  Lantern  of  Salamanca,  from  a  photograph         .... 

142.  Impost  of  St.  Vincent  of  Avila,  from  a  photograph    . 

143.  Flj-ing  Buttress  of  Burgos,  from  Street        ..... 

144.  Capital  of  St.  Sophia,  Constantinople,  from  a  photograph 

145.  Capital  of  Sta.  Maria  in  Cosmedin,  from  a  photograph 

146.  Capital  of  Jumieges,  from  a  photograph     ..... 

147.  Capital  of  Apse  of  Senlis,  drawn  on  the  spot     .... 

148.  Capital  of  Apse  of  Noyon,  drawn  on  the  spot     .... 

149.  Capital  of  Triforium  of  Choir,  Paris,  drawn  on  the  spot     . 

150.  Capital  of  Triforium  of  Nave,  Paris,  drawn  on  the  spot 

151.  Capital  of  Triforium  of  Laon,  drawn  from  a  cast 

152.  Profiles  of  Abaci,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot        .... 

153.  Abacus  Profiles,  drawn  by  eye    ....... 

154.  Capital  of  Apsidal  Chapel,  Amiens,  drawn  from  photograph  by  Miss 

Moore  .......... 

155.  Base  of  St.  Sophia,  Constantinople,  from  a  photograph 

1 56.  Profile  of  Base,  St.  Etienne,  Beauvais,  drawn  and  measured  on  the  spot 

157.  Profile  of  Base,  St.  Martin  des  Champs,  drawn  and  measured  on  the  spot 

158.  Profile  of  Base,  Senlis,  drawn  and  measured  on  the  spot    . 

159.  Profile  of  Base,  St.  Germer-de-Fly,  drawn  and  measured  on  the  spot 

160.  Perspective  and  Profile  of  Base,  Choir  of  Paris,  drawn  and  measured  on 

the  spot        .......... 

161.  Griffe,  Nave  of  Reims,  drawn  from  a  cast  ..... 

162.  Profile  of  Base,  Triforium  of  Paris,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot     . 

163.  Perspective  of  Base,  Triforium  of  Paris,  drawn  on  the  spot 


E.  H 


322 
323 
323 
323 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


xxvu 


FIG. 

164.  Profile  of  Base,  Choir  of  Chartres,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

165.  Base,  Choir  of  Soissons,  drawn  on  the  spot 

166.  Base  of  Westernmost  Pier,  Paris,  drawn  on  the  spot 

167.  Profile  of  Base,  Nave  of  Amiens,  drawn  and  measured  on  the  spot 

168.  String  Profiles,  Nogent-les-Vierges,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

169.  String  Profiles,  Creil  and  Senlis,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

1 70.  String  Profiles,  St.  Pierre,  Chartres,  and  Amiens,  drawn  by  eye  on  th 

171.  Cornice  of  Fa(jade  of  Paris,  drawn  from  a  photograph 

172.  Profiles  of  Set-offs,  St.  Germer,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

173.  Profiles  of  Internal  Strings,  drawn  by  eye 

174.  Diagram 

175.  Profile  of  Interior  String,  Paris,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

176.  Profile  of  Interior  String,  Amiens,  drawn  from  a  photograph 

177.  Rib  Profiles,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

178.  Rib  Profiles,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

179.  Rib  Profiles,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

180.  Rib  Profiles,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

181.  Rib  Profiles,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

182.  Impost  Plan,  Senlis,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot  . 

183.  Impost  Plan,  Amiens,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

184.  MuUion  profiles,  drawn  by  eye  .... 

185.  Profiles  of  Hood-mouldings,  drawn  by  eye 

186.  Capital,  East  Transept  of  Lincoln,  drawn  on  the  spot 

187.  Capital,  Choir  of  Lincoln,  drawn  on  the  spot     . 

188.  Capital,  West  Transept,  Lincoln,  drawn  on  the  spot 

189.  Wreathed  Capital,  Lincoln,  drawn  on  the  spot  . 

190.  Grouped  Capital  of  Choir-screen,  Lincoln,  drawn  on  the  spot 

191.  Capital  of  Wells,  drawn  from  photograph,  by  Miss  E.  H.  Moore 

192.  Moulded  Capital,  Beverley,  drawn  from  photograph 

193.  Profiles  of  Abaci,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

194.  Base  Profiles,  drawn  and  measured  on  the  spot 

195.  Base  Profiles,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot     . 

196.  Base  Profiles,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

197.  Base,  Porch  of  Weils,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

198.  String  Profiles,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot  . 

199.  Profile  of  String,  Salisbury,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

200.  Round  Impost,  Southwell,  from  photograph 

201.  Archivolt  Profile,  Malmesbury,  drawn  by  eye  from  photograph 

202.  Archivolt  Profile,  Lincoln,  drawn  l)y  eye  on  the  spot 

203.  Profile  of  Diagonal  Rib,  Lincoln,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

204.  Profile  of  Transverse  Rib,  Lisieux,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

205.  Capital  of  Magdeburg,  from  Forster 

206.  Capital  of  Heisterbach,  drawn  from  a  jihotograph 

207.  (Japital  of  Cologne,  from  Boisserce     ..... 
2o3.  Archivolt  Prolile,  Cologne,  from  Boisseree 


spot 


p.\i;e 
324 
324 

325 
326 

327 
3-7 
Z-^ 
328 
328 
329 
329 
329 
329 
330 
331 
332 
333 
334 
334 
334 
335 
336 
339 
340 
341 
342 
343 
344 
345 
345 
346 
346 
347 
348 
348 
349 
349 
350 
350 
351 
351 
353 
353 
354 
355 


xxviii  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


209.  Capital  of  Sta.  Maria  Novella,  from  photograph 

210.  Italian  Base  Profiles,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

211.  Profile  of  Diagonal  Rib,  Florence,  drawn  by  eye  on  the  spot 

212.  Figure  of  Angel  from  Byzantine  Ms.,  from  the  original 

213.  Figures  from  Byzantine  Ms.,  from  the  original  . 

214.  Relief,  Notre-Dame  du  Port,  from  photograph  . 

215.  Head  of  Apollo,  drawn  from  photograph,  by  Miss  E.  H.  Moore 

216.  Head  from  Moissac,  drawn  from  photograph,  by  Miss  E.  H.  Moore 

217.  Statue  of  St.  Trophime,  drawn  from  a  photograph     . 

218.  Statue  of  St.  Denis,  drawn  from  a  photograph  .... 

219.  Statue  of  Chartres,  drawn  from  a  photograph     .... 

220.  Relief,  Portal  of  the  Virgin,  Paris,  from  a  photograph 

221.  Statue  of  the  Virgin,  Portal  of  North  Transept,  Paris,  from  a  photograph 

222.  Relief,  Portal  of  Seniis,  drawn  by  Miss  E.Ii.  Moore  from  a  photograph 

223.  Relief,  Portal  of  the  Virgin,  Paris,  drawn  by  Miss  E.  H.   Moore  from  a 

photograph 

224.  Leafage  from  a  Capital,  Vezelay,  from  a  photograph 

225.  Sculpture  of  a  Capital,  Seniis,  drawn  on  the  spot 

226.  Leafage  of  a  Capital,  Seniis,  drawn  on  the  spot 

227.  Capital,  Abbaye-aux-Dames,  drawn  from  a  photograph,  by  Miss  E.  H.  Moore 

228.  Capital  of  the  Triforium  of  Seniis,  drawn  on  the  spot 

229.  Crockets  from  the  Triforium  of  Paris,  drawn  on  the  spot    . 

230.  Capital  of  the  Chapel  of  the  Catechists,  Paris,  drawn  on  the  spot 

231.  Leafage  from  the  Facade  of  Paris,  drawn  from  a  photograph,  by  Miss  E 

H.  Moore 

232.  Leafage  of  the  Interior  of  Amiens,  drawn  from  a  photograph,  by  Miss  E 

H.  Moore     ........... 

233.  Leafage  of  the  Exterior  of  Amiens,  drawn  from  a  photograph,  by  Miss  E 

H.  Moore    ........... 

234.  Leafage  from  Noyon,  drawn  from  a  photograph,  by  Miss  E.  H.  Moore 

235.  Leafage  of  the  Porte  Rouge,  Paris,  drawn  from  a  photograph  . 

236.  Relief  of  the  Fa9ade  of  Lincoln,  drawn  on  the  spot  . 

237.  Statue  of  the  Facade  of  Wells,  drawn  from  a  photograph  . 

238.  Design  from  North  Transept  of  Southwell,  drawn  on  the  spot  . 

239.  Leafage  of  Lincoln,  drawn  on  the  spot      ..... 

240.  Capital  of  Triforium,  Lincoln,  drawn  on  the  spot 

241.  Illumination  of  Thirteenth  Century,  drawn  from  the  original  Ms 

242.  Figure  from  the  Jesse  Window  of  Chartres        .... 


CHAPTER  I 

PRELIMINARY   DEFINITION   OF   GOTHIC 

Since  the  decline  of  Gothic  architecture  the  ideas  which  have 
prevailed  respecting  it  have  been  for  the  most  part  confused 
and  incorrect.  Until  recently  this  art  has  received  little  serious 
attention.  The  very  name  Gothic  originated  in  a  spirit  of  con- 
tempt which  has  naturally  precluded  any  disposition  to  study, 
as  it  deserves,  this  splendid  manifestation  of  human  genius.  The 
architects  and  amateurs  of  the  schools  of  Vignola  and  Palladio 
in  Italy,  where  the  revival  of  taste  for  antique  art  had  led  to 
an  abandonment  of  mediaeval  forms  of  design,  could  not  be 
expected  to  admire  anything  so  far  removed  from  the  spirit 
of  the  art  which  was  in  fashion  during  the  sixteenth  century. 
The  term  vianiera  Tedesca,  which  they  applied  to  such  Gothic 
as  they  knew  (supposing  Gothic  art  to  be  of  German  origin, 
and  their  own  pointed  style  to  be  an  importation  from  Ger- 
many), was  a  term  of  reproach,  and  the  art  was  regarded 
by  them  as  barbaric,  and  without  principles,  in  comparison 
with  their  Vitruvian  orders.  That  this  distaste  for  pointed 
architecture  should  be  felt  in  Italy  was  not  unnatural,  for  it  was 
really  foreign  to  the  Italian  genius  and  Italian  traditions.  It 
had  been  adopted  as  a  fashion,  and  the  imperfect  apprehension 
of  Gothic,  manifested  in  such  use  as  ItaHan  builders  made  of 
the  pointed  arch,  shows  how  little  it  was  suited  to  their  needs. 
The  pointed  architecture  of  Italy  is,  indeed,  fundamentally 
different  from  the  Gothic  of  the  North.  It  is  impossible  for  a 
people  possessed  of  an  art  which  is  an  outgrowth  of  their  own 
wants  and  tastes,  and  hence  proper  to  them,  to  adopt  and 
practise  rationally  another  art  which  has  grown  out  of  different 
needs  and  predilections.  The  Greek  and  Roman  types  of  build- 
ing were  the  natural  inheritance  of  the  Italians,  were  suited  to 
their  climate,  and  supplied  all  the  demands  alike  of  convenience 
and  of  taste. 


2  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

On  the  north  and  west  of  the  Alps  the  case  was  different. 
Here  the  traditions  of  classic  art  were  not,  in  the  same  sense, 
an  inheritance.  The  ancient  forms  of  building  had  here  been 
an  importation,  they  had  never  been  wholly  understood,  and 
they  were  not  well  adapted  to  the  conditions  of  the  climate  or  to 
the  genius  of  the  race.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Gothic  style, 
which  was  gradually  evolved  here,  was  a  natural  expression  of 
the  peculiar  artistic  temperament,  needs,  and  resources  of  the 
people  who  produced  it ;  and  it  was  thus  as  well  suited  to  them 
as  the  classic  styles  had  been  to  the  people  of  the  South. 

Yet  here,  too,  at  length,  a  distaste  for  Gothic  set  in,  follow- 
ing the  more  natural  Italian  reaction,  though  the  change  did  vio- 
lence to  much  that  in  architecture  was  proper  to  the  Northern 
temperament  and  Northern  needs.  The  conditions  which  led 
to  this  change  of  taste  had  their  root  in  the  artificial  state  of 
society  which  the  whole  of  Europe,  but  especially  France,  had 
reached  by  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  —  a  state  of  society 
in  which  pleasurable  indulgence  and  display  of  private  wealth 
had  become  the  chief  animating  motives  of  an  art  that  found 
its  main  expression  in  sumptuous  and  luxurious  private  dwell- 
ings and  their  adornments.  In  the  immediately  preceding 
centuries  private  dwellings,  even  those  of  the  rich,  had  been 
comparatively  unpretentious  and  plain,  while  the  church  edifice, 
the  great  centre  of  social  and  communal  interest,  and  the 
product  of  the  joint  energy  and  enthusiasm  of  all  classes,  had 
been  enriched  by  generous  expenditure  of  toil  and  of  public 
and  private  treasure ;  but  now  it  was  the  dwellings  of  the  rich 
that  chiefly  demanded  the  services  of  art.  The  ambition  of 
Charles  VIII  to  rival  the  magnificence  of  Italian  palatial  build- 
ing marks  the  early  stages  of  a  movement  which,  gathering 
force  under  Francis  I  and  stimulated  by  the  genius  of  Lescot 
and  De  L'Orme,  reached  its  height  in  the  grandiose  architecture 
of  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV. 

The  taste  for  the  Neo-classic  style  thus  introduced  was  long 
confined  to  the  upper  classes.  This  architecture  could  not  soon 
become  an  architecture  of  the  people,  and  the  cities  and  the 
church  held  out  long  against  it.  But  with  the  growth  of 
artificial  conditions  the  new  fashion  at  length  prevailed,  and 
under  the  influences  that  supervened  it  is  not  strange  that  the 
Gothic  style  began  to  be  regarded  with  aversion,  and  its  monu- 


1  DEFINITION  OF   GOTHIC  3 

ments  to  be  not  only  despised  and  neglected,  but  often  shame- 
fully disfigured  and  sometimes  even  destroyed. 

In  England  the  taste  for  the  pseudo-classic  orders,  fostered 
by  the  genius  of  such  men  as  Inigo  Jones  and  Wren,  was  not 
less  hostile  to  Gothic.  Any  feeling  for  mediaeval  forms  which 
had  lingered  on  through  the  Elizabethan  period  was  soon  effec- 
tually quenched.  Germany,  though  not  quick  to  accept  the 
Renaissance  style,  was  also  at  length  conquered  by  the  growing 
taste  for  it.  Everywhere  some  form,  though  often  a  travesty, 
of  the  revived  classic  art  prevailed.  Gothic  art  became  every- 
where extinct. 

Fashion  began,  however,  after  a  while  again  to  change.  In 
the  course  of  the  eighteenth  century  an  antiquarian  interest  in 
pointed  architecture  was  awakened  in  England,  and  received 
a  considerable  stimulus  from  the  zealous  but  ignorant  advocacy 
of  Horace  Walpole.  The  attention  of  amateurs  began  to  be 
directed  towards  existing  monuments,  and  the  publication  of 
Carter's  volumes^  with  measured  drawings,  followed  before  long 
by  the  works  of  Britton  and  Pugin,^  created  an  extensive,  though 
not  a  discriminating,  taste  for  the  long-abandoned  pointed  style. 
So  undiscriminating,  indeed,  was  this  new  interest  that  it  long 
remained  unproductive  of  good  results.  No  just  notion  of  the 
nature  of  Gothic  was  anywhere  entertained.  That  it  embodied 
principles  beyond  those  which  were  apparent  to  a  superficial 
view  nobody  yet  imagined.  The  modifications  and  transforma- 
tions which  pointed  architecture  had  undergone  at  different 
periods  of  its  history  were  but  partially  recognized,  and  their 
significance  was  not  understood.  No  correct  historical  or 
structural  classifications  had  been  made,  and  attention  was,  for 
the  most  part,  directed  to  the  later  and  least  excellent  varie- 
ties of  the  style.  Before  there  could  be  progress  towards  a 
truer  understanding  of  mediaeval  buildings,  it  was  necessary  that 
the  different  forms  which  they  had  assumed  should  be  examined 
and  classified. 

^  John   Carter,    The  Ancient   Architecture    of  England   (London,    1795-1816, 

2  vols.,  fo.) ;  Collection  of  Ancient  Buildings  in  England  (London,  1786,  6  vols., 
32mo). 

■■^  John  Britton,  Architectural  Antiquities  of  Great  Britain  (London,  1805-1826, 

5  vols.,  4to)   and    Cathedral  Antiquities  of   Great  Britain     (London,    1814-1832, 

6  vols.,  4to).  Augustus  Pugin,  Specimens  of  Gothic  Architecture  (London,  1821-1823, 
2  vols.,  4to)  and  Examples  of  Gothic  Architecture  (London,  1831-1838,  3  vols.,  4to). 


4  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

At  length  this  progress  began.  In  the  year  1817  appeared 
Rickman's  first  essay — An  Attempt  to  discriminate  the  Styles  of 
Architecture  in  England.  This  book  did  much  to  clear  up  the 
confusion  that  had  prevailed  by  pointing  out  that  the  differences 
of  style  which  appeared  in  the  English  monuments  might  be 
broadly  divided  into  three  groups  belonging,  respectively,  to 
three  successive  periods  of  construction.  Although  Rickman's 
work  was  naturally  imperfect  and  inadequate,  its  classifications 
were  mainly  correct,  and  it  has  served  as  a  substantial  basis  for 
all  subsequent  study  of  the  pointed  architecture  of  England. 
So  good  was  it,  indeed,  that  the  many  other  treatises  which  soon 
after  appeared  did  little  more  than  extend  the  field  by  bringing 
a  larger  number  of  buildings  into  notice.  Professors  Whewell 
and  Willis,  however,  ought  to  be  mentioned  as  learned  and  able 
investigators  who  must  always  command  the  respect  of  students 
of  architecture.  Whewell,  in  his  Notes  on  German  Churches  ^ 
(pp.  8-9),  showed  that  the  pointed  arch  had  been  introduced  on 
account  of  its  structural  advantages  in  vaulting,  and  did  much 
to  systematize  methods  of  observation ;  and  Willis,  in  his  Archi- 
tecture of  the  Middle  Ages  ^  and  in  his  Essay  on  Vaulting^  has 
given  a  more  thorough  analysis  of  constructive  systems  than 
any  other  English  writer,  and  has  rendered  acknowledged  ser- 
vice to  some  of  the  most  able  writers  of  the  continent.  But 
neither  of  these  authors  succeeded  in  bringing  out  with  clear- 
ness the  essential  principles  of  Gothic. 

In  the  year  1851  was  published  Sharpe's  Seven  Periods  of 
Church  Architecture,'^  which  showed  that  Rickman's  division  of 
styles  might  be  subdivided.  But  beyond  this  Sharpe  threw 
little  light  on  the  subject,  and  he  did  nothing  to  invalidate  the 
general  correctness  of  Rickman's  work.  As  regards  the  true 
nature  of  Gothic,  Sharpe  himself,  though  a  writer  of  much  merit, 
did  not  possess  a  true  conception.  For  he  says  (p.  4),  referring 
to  the  commonly  received  distinction  between  Romanesque  and 

1  The  Rev.  W.  Whewell,  B.D.,  Architectural  N'otes  on  Gervian  Churches,  etc. 
Cambridge,  1842. 

2  R.  Willis,  M..\.,  F.R.S.,  Remarks  on  the  Architecture  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
Cambridge,  1835. 

3  Published  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Institute  of  British  Architects, 
vol.  i.  part  ii.  1842. 

*  Edmund  Sharpe,  M.A.,  The  Seven  Periods  of  English  Church  Architecture. 
London,  1851. 


I  DEFLV/T/ON'  OF  GOTHIC  5 

Gothic  (which  is  merely  that  the  one  employs  the  round,  and 
the  other  the  pointed  arch),  that  he  has  "  little  hesitation  in 
adopting  this  primary  division  as  the  groundwork  "  of  his  sys- 
tem. And  in  his  various  other  works,  excellent  as  they  are  in 
many  ways,  he  everywhere  treats  the  subject  of  Gothic  design 
as  consisting  primarily  in  this  and  other  minor  peculiarities.  Of 
the  considerable  numbers  of  more  recent  English  writers  on 
Gothic  art,  few,  if  any,  have  contributed  towards  a  more  just 
apprehension  of  its  principles.  They  generally  have  under- 
stood by  Gothic  merely  a  style  of  building  in  which  pointed 
arches  take  the  place  of  round  ones,  and  mouldings  and  other 
small  members  are  treated  in  a  peculiar  way.  Hence,  in  dis- 
cussing the  evolution  of  Gothic,  English  writers,  with  hardly  an 
exception,  confine  themselves  to  a  consideration  of  these  sub- 
ordinate matters.  Even  Sir  Gilbert  Scott,  who  has  shown 
more  insight  than  most  others,  fails  to  lay  hold  of  the  ruling 
principles  of  the  art  and  to  exhibit  them  with  clearness.  And 
his  son,  Mr.  G.  G.  Scott,  even  describes  ^  some  of  these  prin- 
ciples incidentally  without  emphasizing  them  as  fundamental. 

A  recent  Belgian  writer,  regarding  the  subject  from  the  Eng- 
lish standpoint,  has  published  a  book  ^  in  which  it  is  maintained 
that  Gothic  consists  in  a  purely  ornamental  transformation  of  the 
component  members  of  a  building.  These  members,  capitals, 
bases,  mouldings,  etc.,  he  examines  without  special  reference  to 
their  functional  offices  and  adjustments,  and  considers  that  the 
more  they  differ  in  ornamental  character  from  the  corresponding 
members  in  the  preceding  styles,  the  more  Gothic  they  are.  For 
standards  of  Gothic  form  he  points  to  those  buildings  in  which 
such  details  depart  the  most  widely  from  Romanesque  types, 
refusing  to  recognize  as  Gothic  monuments  in  which  the  older 
ornamental  elements  are  retained,  or  are  but  slightly  modified. 

In  France  the  revival  of  interest  in  Gothic  seems  to  have 
derived  its  impulse  in  part  from  an  influence  transmitted  from 
England.  One  of  the  earliest  French  writers  to  show  an  appre- 
ciation of  the  subject  was  M.  de  Caumont,  whose  voluminous 
writings^  did  much  to  stimulate  interest  and  research  in  France. 

^  History  of  English  Church  Architecture,  1881,  p.  141. 

^  Jean-Fran(jois  Coifs,  La  Filiation  Genealogique  de  toutes  les  Ecoles  Gothiques. 
Paris,  1882. 

'^  A.  de  Caumont,  Abecedaire  d' Arckeologie  (3  vols.  8vo.  Caen,  1841)  and  nu- 
merous other  works. 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


A 


Fig.  I. 


M.  de  Caumont,  however,  equally  with  the  authors  already  named, 
misconceived  the  nature  of  Gothic  art.     Thus,  in  treating  of  the 

transitional  works,  he  says : 
"  La  revolution  architecto- 
nique  qui  s'op^rait  durant  la 
periode  transitionelle  ne  con- 
sistait  pas  seulement  dans 
la  substitution  de  I'ogive  au 
plein-cintre,  maisaussi,  comme 
nous  le  demontrerons,  dans 
I'adoption  d'un  systeme  nouveau  de  moulures  pour  la  decoration, 
et  dans  I'abandon  de  la  plupart  des  ornaments  usites  aux  XP  et 
XlPsiecles."! 

These  conceptions  of  the  nature  of  Gothic  art  are  inadequate. 
It  is  only  by  the  investigation  of  its  essential  principles  that 
any  art  can  be  understood.  In  architecture  the  principles  of  con- 
struction are  fundamental.  The  forms  of  its  individual  mem- 
bers, apart  from  their  functional  offices  and  relations,  are  not 
enough  to  enable  us  to  apprehend  the  distinctive  characteristics 
of  a  style.  Round  arches  instead  of  straight  beams  may,  for 
instance,  be  used  to  bridge  the  spaces  between  the  upright  sup- 
ports of  a  building  without 
producing  a  result  which  would 
constitute  a  fundamental  dif- 
ference of  architectural  style. 
For  an  arch  may  be  cut  out 
of  a  single  stone,  see  Fig.  i, 
A,  as  was  frequently  done  in 
the  ancient  churches  of  Cen- 
tral Syria.2  The  constructive 
principle  in  such  cases  is,  of 
course,  that  of  the  plain  lintel 
just  as  much  as  at  B  in  the 
same  figure.  Or  the  arch  may  be  built  up  with  horizontal 
courses  of  smaller  stones  as  in  the  so-called  offset  arch  (Fig.  2), 

^  Architecture  Religieuse,  p.  387. 

2  Cf.  Le  Cte.  de  Vogiie,  U Architecture  civile  et  religieuse  du  I"  au  VII^  Steele 
dans  la  Syrie  Centrale.  Paris,  1865-1877.  The  Basilica  of  Mondjelia,  described  on 
p.  98  of  this  book,  presents  such  monohthic  arches  in  its  nave  arcades.  At  first 
glance  it  would  seem  to  be  an  arched  construction.  It  is  not  until  we  scrutinize  the 
jointing  of  the  masonry  that  the  trabeate  principle  of  the  structure  is  understood. 


r'lG.  2. 


I  DEFINITION  OF  GOTHIC  7 

where  the  constructive  principle  is  still  the  same  as  that  of  the 
lintel.  It  is  not  until  the  arch  is  built  out  of  separate  stones 
cut  into  the  shapes  of  zwnssoirs,  causing  it  to  exert  lateral 
thrusts  which  require  to  be  met  by  some  opposing  force,  that 
we  have  a  new  constructive  principle,  the  systematic  carrying 
out  of  which  constitutes  in  architecture  a  new  style. 

In  a  secondary  sense  it  may,  indeed,  be  admissible  to  speak 
of  differences  of  style  where  there  are  no  important  differences 
of  constructive  principle.  Egyptian  architecture  is  in  this  sense 
a  style  different  from  Greek,  the  arched  Roman  is  a  style  differ- 
ent from  Romanesque ;  while  the  Romanesque  itself  may  be 
broadly  divided  into  two  main  styles,  —  the  Eastern  and  Western, 
—  and,  again,  the  Romanesque  of  Western  Europe  may  be  said 
to  be  of  one  variety  in  North  Italy,  of  another  in  Southern  Gaul, 
of  another  in  Normandy  and  England,  and  of  still  another  in  the 
Ile-de-France.  So  of  pointed  architecture  it  may  be  said  that 
there  are  differences  of  style,  some  of  which  approach  more 
nearly  to,  and  some  depart  more  widely  from,  that  distinctive 
type  which  differs  fundamentally  from  all  others  and  is  alone 
properly  called  Gothic.  But  it  is  only  in  a  secondary  sense 
that  it  is  correct  to  speak  thus  of  styles  where  no  essential 
structural  differences  of  design  appear.  Pointed  architecture 
is  not  necessarily,  in  a  primary  sense,  a  style  different  from 
that  which  is  round  arched ;  for  pointed  arches  do  not  in  them- 
selves differ  materially  in  structural  principle  (though  they  do 
in  structural  adaptability)  from  round  ones.  Gothic  archi- 
tecture differs  from  arched  Roman  and  Romanesque  far  more 
fundamentally  than  by  the  use  of  pointed  arches  in  the  place 
of  round  arches,  or  by  the  substitution  of  one  type  of  ornament 
for  another. 

In  the  midst  of  such  imperfect  apprehension  as  has  thus  far 
generally  prevailed,  and  as  preliminary  to  what  is  to  follow,  on 
the  nature  and  origin  of  Gothic  art,  it  may  be  well  for  us  to 
seek  at  once  a  clear  and  unmistakable  definition  of  it.  Such  a 
definition  is  afforded  in  the  monumental  work  of  M.  Viollet- 
le-Duc,  the  Dictionnairc  Raisonne  de  V Arcliitcctiwe  Fraiiqaisc. 
He  has  therein  given  a  profound  and  exhaustive  illustration  of 
Gothic.  He  has  shown  that  this  architecture  consists  primarily 
in  a  peculiar  structural  system,  —  a  system  which  was  a  gradual 
evolution  out  of  the  arched  Roman  through  the  Romanesque,  — 


8  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

and  that  its  distinctive  characteristic  is  that  the  whole  scheme 
of  the  building  is  determined  by,  and  its  whole  strength  is  made 
to  reside  in,  a  finely  organized  and  frankly  confessed  framework 
rather  than  in  walls.  This  framework,  made  up  of  piers,  arches, 
and  buttresses,  is  freed  from  every  unnecessary  encumbrance  of 
wall,  and  is  rendered  as  light  in  all  its  parts  as  is  compatible 
with  strength  —  the  stability  of  the  fabric  depending  not  upon 
inert  massivencss  (except  in  the  outermost  abutments),  but  upon 
a  logical  adjustment  of  active  parts  whose  opposing  forces 
neutralize  each  other  and  produce  a  perfect  equilibrium.  It  is 
a  system  of  balanced  thrusts  in  contradistinction  to  the  ancient 
system  of  inert  stability.  Gothic  architecture  is  such  a  system 
carried  out  in  a  finely  artistic  spirit.  It  is,  indeed,  much  more 
than  this,  but  it  is  this  primarily  and  always.  So  fundamental 
and  far-reaching  is  this  peculiar  mode  of  construction  as  the 
distinctive  principle  of  Gothic,  that  it  may  be  taken  as  a  rule 
that  wherever  we  find  it  developed  there  we  have  a  Gothic  build- 
ing, even  though  the  ornamental  elements  connected  with  it  may 
retain  many  of  the  Romanesque  characteristics;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  wherever  a  framework  maintained  on  the  princi- 
ple of  thrust  and  counterthrust  is  wanting,  there  we  have  not 
Gothic,  however  freely  the  ornamental  elements  may  differ  from 
those  of  the  Romanesque.  M.  Viollet-le-Duc  has  not,  indeed, 
couched  his  analysis  of  Gothic  in  the  precise  form  of  a  defini- 
tion ;  nor  has  he  made  such  a  comparative  study  of  the  various 
types  of  pointed  architecture  that  were  developed  in  the  dif- 
ferent countries  of  Europe  during  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth 
centuries  as  to  exhibit  the  essential  difference  between  the  true 
Gothic  and  the  imperfect  imitations  of  it.  But  he  gives  the 
materials  for  the  definition,  and  his  work  suggests  the  compari- 
son. 

The  evolution  of  the  Gothic  system  was  gradual,  and  the 
final  results  were  unforeseen  when  the  first  steps  were  taken. 
This  will  be  manifest  when  we  come  to  examine  the  variously 
experimental  monuments  in  which  this  evolution  was  working. 
The  first  steps  were  taken  early.  Indeed,  as  we  shall  presently 
see,  the  incipient  elements  of  Gothic  reach  far  back  into  the 
early  Middle  Ages.  But  the  earliest  development  of  ribbed 
vaulting,  together  with  a  functional  grouping  of  supports,  may 
be   taken    as    the  tangible   besinnins:.     This  is    first  met  with 


I  DEFINITIOX  OF  GOTHIC  9 

in  the  Lombard  churches  ^  of  Northern  Italy,  dating  from  the 
early  part  of  the  eleventh  century.  The  innovations  here  made, 
though  destined  to  remain  unfruitful  in  their  original  locality, 
were  apparently  those  from  which  the  Romanesque  builders  of 
Northern  France  derived  a  large  share  of  their  early  inspiration. 
In  addition  to  the  evidence  of  this  which  the  monuments  them- 
selves furnish,  we  have  record  of  the  migration  of  Lombard 
workmen  into  Gaul  even  before  the  eleventh  century.^  The 
rudimentary  principles  of  organic  structure  thus  transmitted  to 
France  were,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  there  rapidly  developed, 
so  that  from  St.  Ambrogio  of  Milan  to  the  Cathedral  of  Amiens 
a  logical  series  of  progressive  changes  may  be  traced. 

Gothic  architecture  is  thus  in  no  sense  an  independent, 
though  it  is  a  distinct,  style.  And  hence  it  is  that  the  finest 
Gothic  buildings  retain  many  of  the  Romanesque  elements, 
though  in  a  modified  and  improved  form.  It  is  a  mistake  to 
suppose  that  the  survival  of  these  elements  marks  a  building  as 
wanting  in  Gothic  character.  On  the  contrary,  such  elements 
are  proper  to  Gothic,  which  is  an  art  not  only  derived  from 
Romanesque,  but  which  is  Romanesque  completely  developed. 
Nearly  every  constructive  member  of  a  Gothic  building  exists 
in    a   rudimentary    form   in   a  vaulted   Romanesque   structure. 

'  By  Lombard  churches  it  is  not  necessary  to  understand  churches  erected  by 
the  Lombard  invaders  during  their  actual  rule  in  Italy.  The  existence,  at  the 
present  time,  of  architectural  monuments  wrought  by  the  hands  of  men  of  the  origi- 
nal Lombard  race  seems  to  have  been  clearly  disproved.  The  designation  Lom- 
bard, as  applied  to  the  churches  of  the  eleventh  century  in  North  Italy,  has  been 
therefore  objected  to.  But  the  style  of  these  churches  is  unquestionably  a  result  of 
the  foreign  influence,  though  the  date  of  their  erection  was  subsequent  to  the  Lom- 
bard occupation.  The  conclusion  reached  by  the  Count  di  S.  Quintino  {Dell'  architet- 
tura  italiana  al  tempo  dei  Longobardi,  Brescia,  1829),  and  others  who  have  treated 
the  subject,  that  the  architecture  in  question  is  derived  wholly  from  Roman  and 
Byzantine  sources  is  certainly  incorrect;  for  nowhere  in  either  Roman  or  Byzantine 
art  are  there  any  precedents  for  the  peculiar  features  and  structural  combinations 
which  distinguish  such  architectural  systems  as  those  of  St.  Ambrogio  of  Milan  and 
San  Michele  of  Pavia.  The  fact  would  seem  to  be  that  the  remarkable  innovations 
embodied  in  these  monuments  originated  in  an  influence  derived  from  the  vigorous 
Northern  genius  which  was  strong  enough  to  outlast  the  period  of  the  actual  Lom- 
bard domination.  After  more  than  two  hundred  years  of  ascendency  the  influence 
of  such  a  people  could  hardly  fail  to  leave  an  impress  that  would  long  endure  and, 
under  favouring  conditions,  lead  to  the  production  of  forms  of  art  differing  widely 
from  those  of  the  original  native  race. 

2  Cf.  Professor  Giuseppe  Merzario,  /  Maestri  Comacini,  etc.,  Milan,  1893,  P-  94 
et  seq. 


10 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


Even  what  has  been  called  the  osseous  system,  which  distin- 
guishes Gothic,  exists  there  in  a  potential  condition.  But,  the 
ultimate  possibilities  of  an  organic  framework  are  not  worked 
out  in  Romanesque  art ;  this  framework  does  not  yet  frankly 
and  independently  exercise  its  functions. 

In  order  to  gain  a  more  correct  preliminary  idea  of  Gothic 
we  may  here  briefly  review  some  of  the  steps  in  the  process 
by  which  the  evolution  was  effected ;  though  for  a  complete 
understanding  of  it,  the  fuller  treatment  which 
follows  will  be  necessary.  I  have  already  al- 
luded to  the  fact  that  a  new  principle  was  intro- 
duced into  the  art  of  building  when  the  arch 
exerting  side  thrusts  was  first  employed.  The 
most  economical  and  effective  way  to  meet  such 
thrusts  is  by  some  kind  of  external  abut- 
^  ments.     But  the  thrusts   of  arches  may 

be  neutralized  in  another  way,  namely, 
by  downward  pressure  upon  the  walls  or 
piers  against  which  they  operate.     Both 


'pr'r>^^  methods  were  employed  by  the  Roman 
and  by  the  Romanesque,  as  well  as  by 
the  Gothic  builders.  In  the  case  of  a 
simple  arched  opening  in  a  wall,  the 
thrusts  are,  of  course,  stayed  in  both  of 
these  ways.  The  lateral  masses  of  wall 
act  as  abutments,  and  the  superincumbent 
masonry  tends  to  overcome  the  outward 
pressures  by  its  weight.  Where  a  space 
between  two  parallel  walls  is  roofed  over 
by  a  barrel  vault,  the  continuous  side 
pressures,  which  would  tend  to  over- 
throw the  walls,  are,  in  Roman  constructions,  met  by  thicken- 
ing these  walls  enough  to  provide  continuous  resistance.  The 
walls  of  vaulted  Roman  buildings  are  further  strengthened  to 
withstand  the  thrusts  by  loading  them  above  the  springing  of 
the  vaults.  In  buildings  of  several  stories,  such  as  the  Flavian 
amphitheatre  (Fig.  3),  the  abutting  power  of  the  enormously 
thick  v/alls  of  the  lower  stories  is  augmented  by  the  weight 
of  the  walls  above.  The  top  story  has  no  vault,  and  its  en- 
closing wall  weights    the  walls  below  and    contributes   to   the 


Fin.  3. 


DEF/NIT/OiV  OF  GOTHIC 


II 


stability  of  the  whole  structure.  By  such  massive  walls,  oper- 
ating in  this  double  way,  the  pressures  of  Roman  vaults  are 
much  more  than  met,  and  hence  the  entire  system  is  practically 
inert.  In  the  case  of  intersecting  vaults,  which  were  intro- 
duced during  the  latter  part  of  the  imperial  epoch,  —  as  in 
the  Basilica  of  Maxentius  and  Constantine,  —  the  thrusts,  in- 
stead of  being  continuous,  are  concentrated  upon  the  four  points 
from  which  their  arches  spring,  and  are  met  by  walls  set  across 
the  side  aisles,  as  shown  in  the  plan  (Fig.  4).    These  cross-walls 


Fig.  4. 


are,  of  course,  true  buttresses  in  disguise.  The  compartments 
of  the  aisles  are  covered  by  barrel  vaults  sprung  from  the  cross- 
walls,  and  the  axes  of  these  vaults  being  thus  perpendicular  to 
the  side  walls  of  the  building,  no  thrusts  are  brought  to  bear 
upon  these  walls,  and  consequently  no  external  abutments  are 
required.  The  Romans  did  not  at  any  time  employ  the  buttress 
as  a  distinct  architectural  member.  They  contrived  their  build- 
ing€  in  such  a  manner  that  the  vault  thrusts  should  be  taken 
either  by  dividing  walls,  or  by  the  enclosing  walls  so  thickened 
as  to  render  them  sufficiently  resistant  by  the  sheer  inertia  of 
their  masses. 

The  Romanesque  builders  were  the  first  to  develop  the 
buttress  as  a  distinct  functional  member.  They  began  by 
breaking  the  outside  of  the  wall  with  shallow  pilaster  strips 
(Fig.  5)  placed  against  the  internal  divisions  of  the  structure. 
It  is  true  that  the  Romans  had  employed  engaged  columns  in 
the  outer  walls,  as  in  the  Flavian  amphitheatre,  but  these  had 


12 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


FIG.  s. 


a  purely  decorative  purpose,   and  even  in   the  early   Roman- 
esque monuments  the  pilaster  strip  had  little  structural  value. 

It  did,  indeed,  somewhat  stiffen 
the  walls,  which  had  not  the  enor- 
mous thickness  of  Roman  walls  ; 
but  it  had  not  strength  enough 
to  bear  much  vault  pressure.  It 
had,  however,  rarely  to  meet 
such  pressure  except  in  the  aisles 
where  the  vaulting  was  of  no 
great  span.  But  though  it  was 
of  slight  efficiency,  its  introduc- 
tion was  an  important  step  in 
organic  architectural  development.  It  marked  the  internal 
structural  lines,  and  in  the  later  types  of  Romanesque,  as  the 
construction  of  vaulting  became  more  general,  the  pilaster  strip 
was  converted  into  the  true  buttress  (Fig.  6). 

Further  progress  was  made  when  the  Romanesque  builders 
of  Northern  France  began  to  vault  their  naves.  It  was  then 
found  that  the  pilaster  strip  against  the  clerestory  wall,  or 
even  a  buttress  like  that  shown  in  Fig.  6,  was  not  enough  to 
stay  vaults  of  so  much  wider  span  than  those  of  the  aisles  for 
which  these  primitive  forms  of  abut- 
ment had  been  adequate.  Expedients 
to  augment  the  resistance  of  the  clere- 
story buttress  were  accordingly  re- 
sorted to,  which  were  destined  to  yield 
unforeseen  and  important  results.  The 
earliest  of  these  are  well  illustrated  in 
the  two  great  churches  of  Caen  —  the 
Abbaye-aux-Hommes  and  the  Abbaye- 
aux-Dames.  In  the  first  of  these  build- 
ings, the  vaulting,  which  dates  from 
the  early  part  of  the  twelfth  century, 
is  (as  will  be  shown  in  the  next  chap- 
ter) formed  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
exert  very  powerful  side  thrusts.  To 
meet  these  thrusts  the  expedient  was 
adopted  of  constructing  half-barrel  vaults  springing  from  the 
aisle  walls  and  abutting  against, the  walls  of  the  nave  beneath 


Fig.  6. 


DEFINITION  OF  GOTHIC 


13 


the  lean-to  roof  (Fig.  7).  These  were  in  reality  concealed 
continuous  flying  buttresses.  But  they  were  flying  buttresses 
of  bad  form ;  for  only  a  small  part  of  their  action  met  the 
concentrated  thrusts  of  the  vaults  that  they  were  designed  to 
stay,  the  greater  part  of  it  operating  against  the  walls  between 
the  piers  where  no  abutments  were  required,  and  where  their 


Fig.  7. —  Section  of  the  Abbaye-aux-Hommes. 


own  inward  thrust  would  have  been  disastrous  had  not  these 
walls  been  made  excessively  strong.  In  the  Abbaye-aux-Dames 
(Fig.  8),  whose  vaulting  was  constructed  at  a  little  later  time, 
a  better  form  of  buttress  occurs.^  In  this  case,  perhaps  fol- 
lowing an  initiative  that  had  been  recently  taken  in  the  Ile-de- 


^  Cf.    LEglise  Ste.  Trinite  et  V Eglise  St.  Etienne  a  Caen. 
Robert.     Caen,  1864. 


Par  V.   Ruprich- 


u 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


France/  instead  of  a  continuous  half-barrel  vault  springing 
from  the  aisle  wall,  separate  arches  were  established  upon  the 
abutments  of  the  aisle,  and  brought  to  bear  against  the  but- 
tresses of  the  clerestory  on  which  the  thrusts  of  the  vaulting 
were  gathered.  The  thrusts  and  counterthrusts  were  thus  con- 
centrated, though  not  as  yet  in  the  most  effective  manner. 
For   the   abutting  arches  still  fell  too  low  to  offer  a  perfect 


Fig.  8.  —  Section  of  the  Abbaye-aux-Dames. 

resistance.  In  the  course  of  time  they  yielded,  and  the  vaults 
had  recently  to  be  reconstructed.  Hence,  though  an  important 
step  had  been  taken,  a  satisfactory  solution  of  the  problem  of 
effectual  abutments  for  vaulting  over  a  clerestory  had  not  yet 
been  reached.  The  abutting  arches  of  the  Abbaye-aux-Dames 
are  indeed  rudimentary  flying  buttresses,  but  they  are  ill  ad- 
justed, and  are  not  externally  apparent. 


1  In  the  buttresses  of  the  choir  and  apse  of  St,  Germer-de-Fly  described  in  the 
following  chapter. 


I  DEFINITION  OF  GOTHIC  15 

Before  this  stage  of  buttress  development  had  been  reached 
in  France,  the  Lombard  builders  had,  as  already  remarked,  and 
as  we  shall  in  the  next  chapter  more  fully  see,  introduced  a 
system  of  independent  arches  or  ribs  of  stone  along  the  lines  of 
the  groins,  and  upon  the  four  sides  of  their  vaults,  projecting 
below  the  vault  surfaces,  and  in  a  measure  sustaining  them. 
The  value  of  this  strong  stone  centring  was  great,  also,  in  pre- 
venting any  rupture  that  might  by  any  chance  take  place  in  one 
cell  or  compartment  of  the  vault  from  communicating  itself  to 
the  others.  The  Romans  had,  indeed,  previously  employed 
a  system  of  arches  to  strengthen  their  vaults  of  concrete,  and 
to  facilitate  their  construction,^  but  these  arches  were  embedded 
in  the  vault  itself,  and  hence  did  not  constitute  an  independent 
and  visible  framework  having  the  same  architectural  value  and 
mechanical  function.  The  application  of  this  ribbed  system 
of  vaulting,  together  with  the  functional  grouping  of  supports 
above  mentioned,  to  oblong  as  well  as  to  square  areas,  com- 
pleted the  structural  improvements  devised  by  the  Romanesque 
builders  of  Northern  France. 

We  are  yet,  however,  far  from  the  Gothic  system.  The  in- 
ert principle  of  ancient  Roman  design  still  largely  survives ;  the 
heavy  vaulting,  massive  walls,  and  small  openings  of  this  Roman- 
esque architecture  are  opposed  to  the  principles  of  Gothic.  But 
the  system  is  quickening  with  a  latent  life  which  will  ultimately 
transform  the  structure,  and  give  it  a  radically  new  character 
and  expression.  From  this  stage,  the  evolution  of  the  Gothic 
style  consisted  in  gradually  perfecting  the  rudimentary  skeleton, 
so  as  to  make  it  independent  of  the  heavy  walls.  To  every 
part  the  highest  working  efficiency  was  at  length  given,  to- 
gether with  an  appropriate  artistic  form. 

All  this  was  rendered  possible  by  the  introduction  of  the 
pointed  arch,  which  was  not  originally  employed  on  account  of 
any  merely  aesthetic  preference  for  this  form  of  arch  in  arcades, 
or  in  doors  and  windows,  but  as  a  constructive  device  in  vault- 
ing. The  properties  of  the  pointed  arch,  which  enabled  the 
Gothic  builders  to  overcome  difficulties  in  vaulting  that  had 
been  before  insuperable,  are  that  it  exerts  less  powerful  thrusts 
than  the  round  arch,  and  that  with  a  given  span  its  crown  may 
be  made  to  reach  any  level.      Its  employment  in  the  narrow 

1  Cf.  Choisy,  VArt  de  Bdtir  ckez  Us  Romains,  Paris,  1873,  p.  76  ei  seq. 


i6 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


arches  of  a  vault  made  it  easy  to  raise  their  crowns  to  the  levels 
of  the  wider-spanned  arches.  The  vaulting  of  oblong  areas  had 
before  been  attended  with  difficulties,  resulting  from  the  fact 
that  the  height  of  the  crown  of  a  semicircular  arch  is  deter- 
mined by  its  span.  In  vaulting  such  areas,  the  crowns  of  the 
round  arches  which  spanned  the  narrow  sides  would  not  reach 
the  level  of  those  which  spanned  the  longer  sides,  while  if  full 
semicircular  arches  were  used  over  the  diagonals  (on  the  Byzan- 
tine principle,  to  be  considered  in  the  next  chapter),  their  crowns 

would  reach  above  all  the 
others.  Thus  (Fig.  9)  the 
height  cd  of  the  arch  acb  is 
less  than  fc,  the  height  of 
the  arch  afg,  which  again  is 
exceeded  by  ih,  the  height 
of  the  arch  aij.  A  vault 
constructed  on  such  a  sys- 
tem of  arches  must  have  an 
excessively  domical  form. 
To  obviate  this,  in  part,  the 
expedient  was  adopted  of 
stilting  the  narrow  arches. 
That  is,  the  level  of  their 
springing  was  raised  by    a 


Fig.  9. 


vertical  substructure,  considerably  above  that  of  the  greater 
arches,  so  as  to  bring  their  crowns  nearer  to  the  same  height, 
and  thus  to  reduce  the  amount  of  doming  required.  But  even 
when  thus  formed,  an  oblong  groined  vault  upon  round  arches 
is  heavy,  exerts  powerful  thrusts,  and  presents  an  inelegant 
appearance.  Oblong  groined  vaults,  though  sometimes  con- 
structed, were,  therefore,  usually  avoided  by  the  Romanesque 
builders  of  the  north,  who,  indeed,  had  rarely  vaulted  their  naves, 
the  portions  of  the  building  where,  in  Northwestern  Europe, 
oblong  compartments  most  frequently  occur.  They  generally 
contented  themselves  with  vaulting  the  aisles,  the  compartments 
of  which  were  commonly  square,  and  where  groined  vaults  on 
round  arches  were  easily  built  with  security.^     The  introduction 

^  The  Lombard  and  Rhenish  Romanesque  builders  avoided  the  difficulties  re- 
ferred to  in  the  text  by  planning  their  buildings  with  square  compartments  in  both 
nave  and  aisles,  one  bay  of  the  nave  embracing  two  bays  of  the  aisles.     This  gives 


DEFINITIOiV  OF  GOTHIC 


17 


Fig.  10. 


of  the  pointed  arch,  however,  obviated  these  difficulties.  By 
means  of  the  pointed  arch  it  became  possible  to  construct 
groined  vaults  over  ob- 
long compartments, 
without  either  doming 
or  stilting,  since  the 
crowns  of  all  the  arches 
could  be  readily  brought 
to  the  same  level,  what- 
ever their  difference  of 
span  (Fig.  10). 

But  it  is  important 
to  observe  that  in  true 
Gothic  architecture  ob- 
long vaults  over  naves 
are  never  constructed 
upon  arches  which  all 
spring  from  the  same 
level,  and  whose  crowns  all  reach  the  same  height.  Other 
exigencies,  which  will  be  explained  in  a  following  chapter  (see 
p.  130),  stood  in  the  way  of  so  constructing  them.  True  Gothic 
vaults  are  always  to  some  extent  both  stilted  and  domed.  But 
though  the  full  advantage  of  the  pointed  arch,  in  reaching  any 
height  with  any  span,  could  not  be  taken,  its  employment  greatly 
diminished  the  thrusts,  obviated  the  necessity  of  excessive  dom- 
ing, and  thus  yielded  more  elegant  effects  and  gave  a  powerful 
stimulus  to  invention. 

With  diminished  and  better  concentrated  thrusts  better  forms 
and  adjustments  of  the  external  stays  were  soon  devised.  The 
flying  buttresses  were  brought  to  bear  more  directly  on  the 
points  of  vault  pressure  —  which  were  found  to  extend  to  a 
higher  level  than  that  on  which  the  arches  of  the  Abbaye-aux- 
Dames  had  abutted.  In  order  to  reach  these  points,  it  was 
found  necessary  to  carry  the  abutments  over  the  aisle  roofs, 
and  thus  to  render  them  conspicuous  external  features.  The 
vault  ribs  were  now  improved  in  form.  Their  profiling,  though 
still  simple,  became  more  elegant,  and  their  grouping  was  ren- 
dered  more  compact  at  the   springing ;    while   the    sustaining 

rise  to  an  alternation  of  large  and  small  piers  in  the  nave,  as  will  be  more   fully 
explained  in  the  following  chapter. 


i8 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


shafts,  for  which  the  best  materials  were  selected,  were  adjusted 
in  new  and  ingenious  ways,  and  their  bulk  was  reduced  to  a 
minimum.     Thus  an  independent  framework  was  created,  and 

the  intervening  walls, 
now  no  longer  needed 
for  the  stability  of  the 
fabric,  were  greatly  re- 
duced in  thickness,  and, 
at  length,  almost  wholly 
suppressed.  The  small 
apertures  of  the  Roman- 
esque style  were  gradu- 
ally enlarged  until  the 
clerestory  and  aisle  open- 
ings entirely  filled  the 
spaces  between  the  piers. 
The  general  form  and 
constructive  character  of 
a  developed  Gothic  build- 
ing may  be  summarized 
as  follows :  — 

I.    The  plan  (Fig.  ii) 
consists  of  a  cen- 
tral   nave,    the 
eastern   portion 
of  which  forms 
the  choir,  with 
side  aisles,  some- 
times   one    and 
sometimes    two 
on    each    side ; 
and  with  a  tran- 
sept usually  also 
provided      with 
aisles.  The  choir 
terminates  eastward,  almost  invariably,  in  a  segmental 
or  polygonal  apse,   or    sanctuary,    around   which   the 
aisles    are    continued.       Opening   out   of    the   apsidal 
aisles  are  usually  a  series  of  small  chapels,  the  central 
one  of  which  is,  in  most  cases,  more  largely  developed 


Fig.  II.  —  Amiens. 


DEFINITION  OF  GOTHIC  19 

than  the  rest.  The  transept  arms  have  commonly  rec- 
tangular ends,  and  the  west  end  of  the  nave  is  invari- 
ably rectangular.  The  nave  is  divided  from  the  aisles 
by  a  row  of  piers  on  each  side  which  support  the  su- 
perstructure, consisting  of  the  triforium  and  the  clere- 
story. On  the  outer  sides  of  the  aisles  are  half-piers, 
or  responds,  against  which  are  set  the  great  buttresses 
of  the  exterior,  and  the  spaces  between  them  are  en- 
closed by  low  and  comparatively  thin  walls  with  open- 
ings above  them  reaching  from  pier  to  pier  and  up  to 
the  arch  of  the  aisle  vaulting. 

2.  The  vaults,  whose  forms  and  proportions  determine  the 

number  and  arrangement  of  the  piers  and  buttresses, 
are  constructed  upon  a  complete  set  of  salient  ribs ; 
namely,  transverse  ribs,  diagonal  (or  groin)  ribs,  and 
longitudinal  ribs.^  These  ribs  are  independent  arches, 
of  which  the  transverse  and  longitudinal  ones  are 
pointed,  while  the  diagonals  sometimes  remain  round. 
Upon  these  ribs  the  vaults  rest  —  the  one  never  being 
incorporated  with  the  other. 

3.  The   ribs   are   sustained    by   slender   shafts,    compactly 

grouped,  and  often  engaged,  bonded  by  their  bases 
and  capitals,  if  not  throughout  their  length,  with  the 
great  piers  which  rise  from  the  pavement  through  the 
successive  stories  of  the  building  to  the  nave  cornice. 
In  addition  to  the  shafts  which  support  the  main 
ribs  of  the  vault  are  shorter  ones  to  carry  the  great 
archivolts  (the  arches  of  the  main  arcades),  the  ribs  of 
the  aisle  vaulting,  and  the  arches  of  the  triforium.  To 
the  pier  is  added  a  rectangular  buttress  which  rises 
through  the  triforium  and  becomes  an  external  feature 

^  I  call  the  rib  which  runs  parallel  with  the  long  axis  of  the  building  the  longi- 
tudinal rib,  rather  than  by  its  common  English  name  wall  rib,  because  in  the  devel- 
oped Gothic  architecture  there  are  no  walls  in  the  clerestory,  or  in  the  upper  parts  of 
the  aisles.  The  ribs  named  in  the  text  —  transverse,  diagonal,  and  longitudinal  —  are 
the  only  ribs  that  are  structurally  necessary,  hence  they  may  be  said  to  constitute  a 
complete  rib  system.  The  additional  ribs, — Hemes  (short  connecting  ribs)  and  tier- 
cerons  (ribs  placed  between  the  transverse  ribs  and  the  diagonals),  —  which  appear  in 
later  forms  of  vaulting,  more  especially  in  England,  have  no  necessary  mechanical 
function.  The  introduction  of  such  ribs  was  a  violation  of  the  principles  of  true 
Gothic  art,  in  which  no  superfluous  features  occur. 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

in  the  clerestory.  Each  pier  is  thus  a  compound 
member  consisting  of  a  great  central  column  with 
which  are  incorporated  smaller  shafts  and  a  buttress. 
By  these  piers  the  vaults  are  supported  —  their  thrusts 
being  so  completely  neutralized  by  the  external  but- 
tress system  that  they  require  to  be  only  massive 
enough  to  bear  the  weight  of  the  vaults. 

The  clerestory  buttresses  are  reinforced  by  flying  but- 
tresses, which  are  segments  of  arches  rising  from  the 
vast  outer  abutments  (the  external  members  of  the 
responds  of  the  aisles)  and  springing  over  the  aisle 
roofs.  These  flying  buttresses  are  the  most  character- 
istic features  of  the  Gothic  exterior. 

Walls  proper  are  almost  entirely  omitted.  Those  that 
are  retained  are  the  low  enclosing  walls  of  the  ground 
story,  and  the  spandrels  of  the  various  arcades.  The 
spaces  between  the  piers,  and  beneath  the  arches  of 
the  vaulting,  in  both  clerestory  and  aisles,  are  entirely 
open,  like  the  intercolumniations  of  a  colonnade.  They 
are  formed  into  vast  windows,  divided  by  mullions  and 
tracery  which  support  the  iron  bars  to  which  the 
glazing  is  attached.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  full 
development  of  the  Gothic  system  is  brought  out  only 
where  the  plan  of  the  building  includes  a  high  central 
nave  and  lower  side  aisles.  It  was  in  such  buildings 
that  the  system  was  evolved.  The  active  principle 
introduced  with  the  flying  buttress,  as  opposed  to  the 
comparatively  inert  principle  of  the  Romanesque  wall 
and  wall  buttress,  is  the  distinguishing  principle  of 
Gothic  construction,  as  we  have  already  remarked.  By 
the  flying  buttress  in  connection  with  the  pointed  arch 
in  the  ribs  of  the  vaulting,  and  a  peculiar  adjustment 
of  these  ribs  (to  be  explained  farther  on),  is  the  Gothic 
concentration  and  resistance  of  thrusts  rendered  pos- 
sible. A  building  without  aisles,  like  the  Sainte 
Chapelle  of  Paris,  may,  indeed,  consist  of  a  simple 
open  skeleton  sustaining  vaults.  When  the  system 
was  once  developed  in  buildings  of  three  or  more  aisles 
of  unequal  height,  it  was  natural  to  employ  a  simpler 
form  of  it  in  the  construction  of  those  of  simpler  plan. 


I  DEFnVIT/OiV  OF  GOTHIC  21 

But  it  is  unlikely  that  architecture  like  that  of  the  Sainte 
Chapelle  would  ever  have  come  into  being  had  build- 
ings of  so  simple  form  only  been  required.  It  was  the 
need  of  vast  stone-roofed  churches,  such  as  could  not 
be  constructed  without  aisles,  that  stimulated  the 
genius  of  the  Gothic  builders  and  led  to  the  produc- 
tion of  the  remarkable  monuments  of  the  Middle  Ages 
that  fill  us  to-day  with  wonder  and  admiration. 

Such,  in  brief  outline,  is  the  structural  character  of  Gothic 
architecture.  It  was  not,  however,  in  constructive  invention 
alone  that  the  genius  of  the  Gothic  builders  found  expression. 
The  Gothic  edifice  was  not  merely  an  organic  structure  of 
naked  masonry  however  ingenious.  It  was  wrought  with  a  fine 
sense  of  proportion  ^  and  was  enriched  by  the  auxiliary  arts  of 
carving  and  colour  design.  Before  the  time  of  Gothic  art  a  gen- 
uine aptitude  for  sculpture  and  painting  had  been  manifest  in 
the  northern  genius.  But  the  early  works  of  the  races  of 
Northern  Europe  in  these  arts  were  grotesquely  rude  and 
uncouth,  and  the  same  character  has  been  mistakenly  attrib- 
uted to  the  work  of  the  Gothic  artists.  But  Gothic  art  is  by 
no  means  rude  and  uncouth.  It  is,  in  its  best  forms,  highly 
refined  and  elegant ;  for  it  is  not  a  product  of  the  unmixed  and 
uncultivated  northern  peoples.  By  the  twelfth  century  the 
mingling  of  races,  which  had  long  been  going  on  in  France, 
had  at  length  produced  a  people  in  whose  constitution  were 
happily  blended  some  of  the  best  characteristics  of  the  Latin, 
Celtic,  and  Teutonic  stocks.  It  was  this  people  who  developed 
the  Gothic  style  and  gave  to  its  marvellous  constructive  system 
equally  new  and  appropriate  types  of  carved  and  painted  adorn- 
ment. Gothic  architecture,  with  its  wealth  of  sculpture  and 
painting,  is  not  an  art  of  barbarians,  as  the  Neo-classicists 
of  the  Renaissance  and  many  more  recent  writers  have  sup- 
posed. It  is  far  otherwise.  It  is  an  art  of  that  civilized 
people  which  grew  up,   through    generations  of   conflict   and 

1  To  what  extent  the  mediaeval  architects  intended  to  observe  any  mathematical 
formulas  of  proportion  I  do  not  know;  but  it  is  certain  that  they  followed  no  such 
formulas  with  any  strict  precision.  Formulas  are,  indeed,  foreign  to  artistic  work,  and 
are  inimical  to  beauty.  Hence  Bacon's  remark:  "There  is  no  excellent  beauty  that 
hath  not  some  strangeness  in  the  proportion." 


22  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

mutual  interchange  of  ideas,  out  of  the  fusion  of  Northern  and 
Southern  blood.  This  fusion  produced  a  superior  race,  a  race 
equal  in  artistic  capacity  to  any  of  those  of  ancient  times,  and 
in  which  the  genius  of  the  North  supplied  a  fertile  imagina- 
tion and  a  daring  spirit  of  innovation,  while  that  of  the  South 
contributed  a  disciplined  sense  of  beauty  and  an  inheritance  of 
classic  culture.  Thus,  Gothic  art,  though  embodying  widely 
different  principles,  is  no  less  remarkable  and  admirable  than 
classic  art.  Indeed,  notwithstanding  its  difference,  Gothic  art 
has  much  in  common  with  that  of  classic  antiquity.  In  breadth 
of  design,  coordination  of  parts,  and  measured  recurrence  of 
structural  and  ornamental  elements,  the  Gothic  artist  obeyed, 
though  in  a  different  form,  the  same  primary  laws  that  had 
governed  the  ancient  Greek. 

While  both  sculpture  and  painting  were  employed  as  auxil- 
iaries, it  was  sculpture  rather  than  painting  that  reached  a  high 
degree  of  perfection  in  the  mediaeval  system.  This  does  not, 
however,  appear  to  have  been  due  to  any  lack  of  aptitude  for 
painting,  but  rather  to  the  fact  that  the  Gothic  artists  were  pre- 
occupied with  the  creation  of  a  form  of  architecture  which  afforded 
little  field  for  the  exercise  of  the  painter's  art  —  except  such  as 
had  a  purely  ornamental  character.  In  painting  of  this  kind  the 
French  workmen  of  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries  at- 
tained a  degree  of  excellence  that  no  others  have  ever  equalled. 
The  art  of  producing  brilliantly  coloured  designs  in  glass  to 
enclose  the  vast  openings  of  the  new  architecture  was,  indeed, 
a  kind  of  painting  which  the  Gothic  artists  developed  magnifi- 
cently, and  made  peculiarly  their  own.  But  a  twofold  conven- 
tion —  that  of  architectural  fitness  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
far-reaching  one  growing  out  of  the  nature  of  the  translucent 
material  on  the  other  —  limited  this  art  to  the  most  strictly 
heraldic  conditions. 

But  for  sculpture  there  was  an  unlimited  field,  and  in  this 
field  the  grandest  achievements  were  reached.  In  Gothic  sculp- 
ture a  singular  correspondence  with  the  spirit  of  Gothic  con- 
struction is  noticeable.  As  what  may  be  likened  to  a  living 
organic  principle  distinguishes  this  construction,  so  does  a  vital 
principle  find  expression  in  Gothic  sculpture  to  an  extent  un- 
equalled in  the  sculpture  of  any  other  school  or  epoch.  An 
appreciation  of  the  animating  spirit  of  nature,  from  which  all 


I  DEFJNITIOX  OF  GOTHIC  23 

the  elements  of  this  sculpture  are  drawn,  is  invariably  dis- 
played. Whether  in  subordinate  ornamentation  —  the  enrich- 
ment of  capitals,  the  running  patterns  of  string-courses,  the 
voussoirs  oi  archivolts,  —  or  in  the  sculpture  of  the  human  figure 
itself,  this  expression  of  life  is  always  marked.  It  is  true  that 
in  the  ornamental  sculpture  of  the  best  previous  schools  of  art 
a  vital  character  is  often  noticeable,  and  is  seldom  wholly  want- 
ing. Most  Greek  ornamentation,  though  severely  abstract  and 
conventional,  owes  its  essential  beauty  to  qualities  of  line 
and  surface  that  suggest  life.  And  in  Greek,  as  in  Gothic,  art 
these  qualities  were  plainly  derived  from  natural  organic  forms. 
I  do  not  mean  to  affirm  that  there  was  in  the  mind  of  the  Greek 
carver,  when  elaborating  his  ornament,  any  direct  and  conscious 
reference  to  nature,  or  any  imitative  intention.  But  the  inspira- 
tion of  nature  is  clearly  apparent  even  in  the  most  abstract 
elements  of  Greek  ornamental  design,  except  such  as  are  of  a 
purely  geometrical  character.  The  profiles  of  Doric  capitals, 
Ionic  volutes,  and  of  acanthus  leafage  afford  instances  which 
will  occur  to  every  student  of  Greek  art.  But  in  Gothic  orna- 
ment this  expression  of  life  takes  a  wider  range,  and  the  sug- 
gestion of  nature  is  more  full  and  varied.  Even  a  resemblance 
to  many  different  species  of  vegetation  appears,  and  an  exten- 
sive architectural  flora  is  at  length  evolved  (answering,  it  is 
said,  in  some  cases  to  the  natural  flora  of  the  locality  in  which 
the  work  is  wrought)  and  used  to  adorn  the  structural  forms. 

But  the  varied  ornamental  schemes  of  Gothic  art  are  not 
independent  creations  any  more  than  is  the  structural  system 
an  independent  development.  Their  roots  may  all  be  traced 
back  to  the  arts  of  antiquity.  The  ancient  ornamental  motives 
and  arrangements  had  survived  under  variously  modified  forms 
in  the  works  of  the  Romanesque  designers.  They  had,  indeed, 
been  often  imitated  without  intelligence  or  skill,  and  many 
changes  resulting  from  ignorance  and  incapacity  had  been 
made.  But  with  the  renewed  artistic  activity  of  the  eleventh 
century  improvements  were  made,  and  in  the  later  Romanesque 
art  a  new  spirit  was  already  infused  into  them.  In  the  hands 
of  the  Gothic  artists,  however,  they  received  a  still  more  vital 
character,  and  were  developed  with  a  fertility  of  invention,  and 
an  artistic  power,  altogether  without  precedent. 

Yet,  notwithstanding  its  remarkable  expression  of  life  based 


24  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

on  nature,  the  work  of  the  Gothic  carver  is  as  a  rule  appropriately 
conventionalized.  Only  those  abstract  qualities  of  form  which 
are  capable  of  effective  monumental  treatment  are  taken  from 
nature.  Nothing  more  than  this  appears  until  the  period  of 
decadence  in  Gothic  art.  The  conventional  character  of  the 
work  is  of  the  kind  that  results  from  a  just  sense  of  the  purposes 
and  limitations  of  architectural  sculpture  which  the  mediaeval 
designer  had  acquired  from  time-honoured  tradition,  and  which 
was  consonant  with  his  own  native  feelings.  He  instinctively 
felt  the  universal  applicability  of  the  principles  that  had  gov- 
erned the  arts  in  ancient  times.  He  saw  that  they  were  based 
upon  immutable  laws  of  disposition,  relation,  and  quantity ;  and 
thus  that  while  the  component  elements  of  an  ornamental 
scheme  might  be  re-created  and  endlessly  varied,  the  ruling 
principles  of  arrangement  might  not  be  disregarded.  And  they 
never  are  disregarded  in  pure  Gothic  art.  The  general  scheme 
always  bears  evidence  of  its  ancient  origin.  Thus  in  the  west 
front  of  the  Cathedral  of  Amiens  there  are  string-courses  whose 
ornamental  elements  are  formed  and  arranged  so  as  to  recall 
the  well-known  (fgg  and  dart  scheme  of  the  Greeks.  Others 
correspond  to  various  meanders  and  scrolls  of  classic  design. 
But  instead  of  the  formalized  abstractions  of  the  antique  details, 
we  have  often  the  generic  types,  and  even  many  of  the  specific 
peculiarities,  of  natural  leafage.  In  the  one  motive  a  rounded 
foliate  or  floral  boss  answers  to  the  ovate  members  of  the 
ancient  scheme,  while  a  tendril  with  lateral  leaves  answers  to 
the  dart.  In  the  others  the  meander  or  scroll  is  a  living  branch, 
into  the  spaces  enclosed  by  the  wavy  or  convoluted  lines  of 
which  grow,  as  of  their  own  volition,  unfolding  leaves,  which 
give  place  at  intervals  to  springing,  crouching,  or  reposing  ani- 
mals and  birds.  Everywhere  in  Gothic  art  do  we  find  expres- 
sion of  organic  life,  but  this  life  is  invariably  governed  by  the 
exigencies  of  architectural  fitness.  The  artist,  while  keenly 
appreciative  of  nature,  has  a  constant  regard  to  the  conditions 
of  his  art. 

The  same  vital  beauty,  and  the  same  monumental  treat- 
mt,  mark  Gothic  figure  sculpture.  And  in  figure  sculpture, 
^less  than  in  foliate  ornament,  ancient  traditional  principles 

isign  form  the  basis  on  which  the  new  developments  are 

'cht. 


ALFffED  W.  REA. 

I  DEFINITION  OF  GOTHIC  25 

In  a  definition  of  Gothic  architecture  only  the  purest  forms 
of  the  art  properly  concern  us.  Its  decadent  phases  need  not 
be  followed,  nor  need  we  consider  the  many  imitations  and 
modifications  of  Gothic  which  arose  in  different  parts  of  Europe 
after  the  twelfth  century.  These  often  possess  great  interest, 
and  sometimes  even  great  beauty,  but  they  do  not  afford  a 
true  illustration  of  the  Gothic  style.  The  pure  Gothic,  that 
which  alone  is  really  a  new  and  consistent  style,  differing 
fundamentally  in  its  structural  and  ornamental  systems  from 
all  other  styles,  is,  as  we  shall  see,  native  to  France  only. 
Hence,  upon  the  Gothic  of  France  our  definition  is  necessarily 
founded. 

This  Gothic  architecture,  like  every  other  great  art,  was  in 
its  completeness  of  short  duration.  After  a  long  period  of 
preparation  and  germination,  —  a  period  extending  through  all 
the  earlier  Middle  Ages, — the  organic  Romanesque  types  of 
Lombardy  and  Northern  France  w^ere  produced,  in  which  we 
see  that  the  genius  of  the  builders  was  reaching  out  more  and 
more  after  new  principles,,  and  this  inventive  progress  went 
on  until  at  length  a  combination  of  happy  conditions  conspired 
to  bring  them  into  full  embodiment.  The  eleventh  and  twelfth 
centuries  brought  about  in  Northern  Gaul  that  fine  balance 
of  ethnologic,  religious,  social,  and  political  influences  which 
gave  character  to  the  newly  formed  French  nation,  and  of 
which  Gothic  architecture  is  among  the  noblest  manifestations. 
But  the  spiritual  and  intellectual  forces  that  were  active  in  the 
twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries  suffered  a  change  thereafter, 
and  a  corresponding  course  of  architectural  decline  set  in.  If 
we  would  really  know  Gothic  art,  we  must  study  it  in  the  vigour 
and  beauty  of  its  early,  and  first  mature,  life.  Its  character- 
istics in  these  states  are  what  I  have  attempted  briefly  to 
describe  and  shall,  in  the  succeeding  chapters,  endeavour  more 
fully  to  illustrate. 

The  edifice  which  most  completely  embodied  the  Gothic 
spirit  was  the  cathedral  —  the  leading  object  of  popular,  munici- 
pal, and  ecclesiastical  interest  and  enthusiasm.  In  the  cathe- 
dral church  were  centred  the  most  potent  and  active  interests 
—  religious,  communal,  and  social ;  and  on  it  was  expended  the 
best  genius  of  the  time,  as  well  as  the  vast  material  resources 
which  the  free  communes  were  now  able  to  command.      The 


26  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

cathedral  thus  became  a  substantial  expression  of  the  growing 
freedom  from  feudal  oppression,  and  of  monarchial  and  com- 
munal organization  —  as  well  as  of  religious  faith  and  aspira- 
tion. History  affords  no  parallel  to  the  spirit  which  gave  rise 
to  the  Gothic  cathedral.  The  nearest  approach  to  it  was  that 
which  produced  the  Greek  temple.  Both  grew  out  of  condi- 
tions of  strong  popular  enthusiasm  engaging  with  religious  and 
civic  ardour  in  the  construction  and  adornment  of  monuments 
for  public  benefit  and  enjoyment.  It  was  the  cathedral,  the 
largest,  the  most  comprehensive,  and  the  most  popular  form 
of  the  Christian  church,  that  brought  out  the  full  development 
of  Gothic  architecture. 

Nevertheless,  the  first  steps  of  development  from  Roman- 
esque to  Gothic  were  taken  before  the  great  cathedral  move- 
ment set  in.  They  were  taken  in  the  monastic  churches,  and 
with  them  the  study  of  this  development  must  begin. 

The  vast  new  impulse  in  building,  which  in  the  eleventh 
century  extended  all  over  Christian  Europe,  assumed  a  peculiar 
and  potent  character  with  the  religious  orders  of  the  North. 
In  Italy,  while  buildings  of  great  extent  and  magnificence,  such 
as  the  Cathedral  of  Pisa,  were  at  this  time  begun,  no  new  sys- 
tem was  foreshadowed  in  their  construction,  no  new  principle 
was  introduced.^  But  north  of  the  Alps,  or  rather  north  of  the 
Loire,  a  new  architectural  style  was  rapidly  forming.  The 
monastic  orders  of  the  North,  less  given  than  those  of  the  South 
to  seclusion,  contemplation,  and  inaction,  soon  became  very 
energetic  builders.  With  them  mutual  intercourse  and  inter- 
change of  ideas  were  general,  a  spirit  of  invention  was  active, 
and  constructive  enterprise  was  astir  in  all  directions.  The 
immunity  from  pillage  which  the  monastic  establishments  had 
enjoyed  during  the  most  troubled  times  had  enabled  them  to 
accumulate  wealth,  and  thus  made  it  possible  for  them  to 
enter  upon  extensive  building  operations  to  provide  more  ample 
and  more  elegant  accommodations  the  need  of  which  had  its 
source  in  their  enlarged  relations  with  the  masses  of  the 
people.  The  monasteries  had  early  taken  every  means  to 
qualify  large  bodies  of  men  to  practise  the  arts.  They  had 
organized  and  maintained  schools  where  art  and  science  were 

1  The  Lombard  architecture  of  Northern  Italy  forms  an  exception,  of  course;  but 
this  was  not  really  a  native  Italian  art. 


I  DEFINITION  OF  GOTHIC  27 

taught,  where  architecture,  sculpture,  and  painting  were  culti- 
vated under  guidance  of  traditions  which  regulated  the  leading 
forms  of  production  while  they  yet  left  some  scope  for  the  free 
play  of  new  ideas. ^  Under  these  conditions  of  monastic  life 
and  organization  were  made  the  first  attempts  to  improve  the 
forms  and  methods  of  vaulting,  which  led  to  the  structural  use 
of  the  pointed  arch  and  to  the  infusion  of  a  new  spirit  into  the 
old  forms  of  ornamentation.  The  early  monastic  building 
experiments  were  often  awkward  and  unsuccessful,  but  the 
builders  were  quick  to  profit  by  failure,  and  to  embody  the  new 
ideas  which  failures  suggested  in  fresh  undertakings,  which, 
however  imperfect,  were  improvements  on  what  had  been 
done  before. 

But  the  monasteries,  active  and  ingenious  as  were  their 
inmates,  were  not  the  sources  from  which  were  to  issue  the 
most  potent  ideas  and  influences.  The  full  development  of 
the  Gothic  system  was  not  to  be  the  work  of  the  monk.  The 
freest  exercise  of  invention  could  not  be  called  out  under  the 
shadow  of  the  cloister,  and  the  architectural  requirements  of 
monastic  routine  and  ceremonial  were  of  comparatively  nar- 
row range.  A  freer  spirit  of  enterprise,  a  wider  experience 
of  life,  and  a  more  majestic  ritual  were  needed  to  call  into 
activity  the  highest  powers  of  the  creative  imagination,  and 
fully  to  develop  the  genius  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Yet  there 
are  few  things  more  interesting,  more  instructive,  or  more 
beautiful  in  human  history  than  the  spectacle  of  these  early 
cowled  builders  struggling  against  all  difficulties  and  disadvan- 
tages, and  laying  the  foundations  of  a  new  art  which  was,  in 
the  stronger  hands  of  their  lay  successors,  to  culminate  in  the 
marvels  of  Chartres  and  Amiens. 

One  further  point  must  be  noticed ;  namely,  that  the  archi- 
tecture of  the  Middle  Ages  not  only  reached  its  highest  per- 
fection in  the  cathedrals,  but  that  it  was,  in  the  strictest  sense, 
an  architecture  of  churches  primarily.  That  is  to  say,  it  was 
in  church  edifices  alone  that  the  Gothic  style  was  developed, 
and  it  was  in  these  only  that  it  could  be  completely  embodied. 

^  The  monastic  buildings  were  not  only  planned,  and  the  works  on  them  directed, 
by  the  monks,  but  they  were  also  largely,  if  not  entirely,  constructed  with  their  own 
hands.  Cf.  Lenoir,  Architecture  Monastique,  p.  36  et  seq.,  and  Montalembert,  Les 
Moines  d'' Occident,  vol.  vi.  p.  242  et  seq. 


28  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap,  i 

The  structural  and  ornamental  forms  that  were  first  brought 
into  being  in  the  church  building  were  afterwards  applied,  as 
far  as  they  were  suitable,  to  such  civil,  military,  and  domestic 
buildings  as  were  to  have  any  architectural  character ;  but  in 
such  buildings  there  could  be  no  independent  developments  of 
a  Gothic  kind.  Broadly  speaking,  this  has  always  been  so. 
Architecture  inspired  by  religious  zeal,  and  intended  for  religious 
uses,  has  ever  preceded  that  designed  for  secular  purposes, 
and  has  mainly  determined  the  character  of  secular  building. 
We  are  apt  to  forget  that  the  leading  architecture  of  the  Egyp- 
tians was  that  of  the  temple ;  that  their  temples  were  the  chief 
architectural  monuments  of  the  Greeks ;  that  the  best  elements 
of  classic  Roman  architecture  were  borrowed  from  Greek  tem- 
ples; that  the  civil  and  domestic  architecture  of  the  Middle 
Ages  was  that  of  the  churches  adapted  to  civil  and  domestic 
needs;  and  that  the  original  elements  of  modern  architecture 
were  first  developed  in  ancient  temples  and  mediaeval  churches. 

Finally,  it  should  be  considered  that  the  Gothic  edifice, 
with  its  myriads  of  sculptured  forms,  was  like  a  vast  open 
page  whereon  were  written,  in  imagery  which  the  most  illit- 
erate could  read,  the  legends  and  traditions  of  the  mediaeval 
faith.  These  legends  and  traditions  must  be  reckoned  among 
the  chief  sources  of  inspiration  and  stimulus  to  the  imaginations 
of  the  Gothic  builders.  They  appealed  to  the  warmest  sym- 
pathies and  quickened  the  highest  aspirations  of  the  people, 
and  filled  them  with  devotion  to  the  fabric  which  they  sought 
to  make,  at  whatever  cost  of  labour  and  of  treasure,  a  fitting 
expression  of  their  beliefs  and  hopes. ^ 

As  already  remarked,  and  as  this  work  is  largely  designed  to 
show,  this  architecture  is  native  to  France,  and  to  France  only. 
But  our  consideration  of  the  rise  of  Gothic  art  in  France  must 
be  preceded,  in  the  next  chapter,  by  a  fuller  examination  of 
the  sources  of  Gothic  in  the  Romanesque  developments  that 
were  in  progress  from  the  breaking  up  of  the  Roman  civilization 
to  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century. 

1  The  terrors  held  out  by  the  dogmas  of  the  mediceval  church,  the  fear  of  a  mate- 
rially conceived  hell  of  torment,  etc.,  may  have  contributed,  in  some  measure,  towards 
the  church-building  activity  of  the  Middle  Ages.  But  the  zeal  which  mainly  animated 
the  Gothic  artists  was  certainly  not  from  this  source. 


CHAPTER   II 

THE   SOURCES   OF   GOTHIC 

Before  entering  upon  a  fuller  consideration  of  the  develop- 
ment of  the  Gothic  style  out  of  the  Romanesque,  some  examina- 
tion of  the  evolution  of  the  Romanesque  itself,  and  of  its 
principal  varieties,  is  necessary  to  a  proper  understanding  of 
our  subject.  The  Gothic  system  was  immediately  evolved  out  of 
the  Romanesque  of  Northern  France,  which  began  to  assume 
its  characteristc  forms  in  the  eleventh  century  and  reached 
its  completest  type,  as  we  shall  see,  by  mo  in  the  nave  of 
the  Church  of  St.  Etienne  of  Beauvais.  But  the  principles  and 
elements  of  this  Romanesque  architecture  were  partly  in  turn 
derived  from  more  ancient  sources,  and  from  various  distant 
localities.  In  fact,  the  evolution  of  the  architecture  of  the 
Middle  Ages  begins  with  the  earliest  departures  from  the  princi- 
ples and  constructive  forms  of  the  art  of  imperial  Rome  and 
culminates  in  the  Gothic  art  of  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centu- 
ries. The  various  types  of  Christian  Roman  and  Romanesque 
building  which  intervene  are  but  so  many  phases  of  a  transitional 
art,  except  such  as  are  only  survivals  of  old  forms  devoid  of  pro- 
gressive character.  This  fact  has,  with  a  few  recent  exceptions, 
hardly  been  recognized  by  writers  on  mediaeval  architecture. 
It  was,  however,  virtually  implied  by  Quicherat  forty  years 
ago  in  his  excellent  definition  of  Romanesque,^  which  is  as 
follows :  "  L' Architecture  Romane  est  celle  qui  a  cesse  d'etre 
romaine,  quoiqu'elle  tienne  beaucoup  du  romaine,  et  qui  n'est 
pas  encore  gothique,  quoiqu'elle  ait  deja  quelque  chose  du  Go- 
thique."  This  definition  removes  the  beginning  of  Romanesque 
to  a  period  far  anterior  to  the  eleventh  century,  when  that  of 
Northwestern  Europe  first  takes  form.  If  that  architecture  is 
Romanesque  which  has  ceased  to  be  Roman  while  it  has  not 

1  Given  in  his  essay,  "  De  I'Architecture  Romane,"  originally  published  in  the 
Revtie  Archeologiqtie,  and  reprinted  in  the  J\feiange  d^Arch'eologie  et  (Tllistoire  edited 
by  M.  de  Lasteyrie.     Paris,  1886. 

29 


30 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 


yet  become  Gothic,  though  it  has  some  elements  of  Gothic,  then 
we  must  look  for  the  beginnings  of  Romanesque  in  those  archi- 
tectural systems  which  exhibit  the  earliest  innovations  on  the 
Roman  principles  of  design.  Those  systems  arose  in  the  Eastern 
countries,  chiefly  in  the  Byzantine  Empire,  where,  after  the  de- 
cline of  the  older  Roman  civilization,  the  conditions  first  became 
favourable  to  a  fresh  creative  impulse  in  the  fine  arts.  Our 
examination  of  the  sources  of  Gothic  must,  then,  begin  with  the 
nascent  Romanesque  of  these  Eastern  countries. 

The  architecture  of  imperial  Rome  was  incapable  of  struc- 
tural development  without  material  changes  in  its  principles  and 
forms.  The  square  cross-vault,  with  its  elliptical  groins  and 
cylindrical  surfaces,  was  an  inflexible  vault ;  and  the  oblong  cross- 
vault,  with  its  wavy  groins,  was  hardly  less  so.  The  ponderous 
walls  and  piers  that  sustained  this  vaulting  covered  an  excessive 
area,  but  could  not  be  safely  reduced  in  volume,  while  the  super- 
ficial application  of  the  trabeate  orders  to  this  arched  con- 
struction presented  an  insuperable  obstacle  to  the  evolution  of 
a  logical  and  appropriate  architectural  style. 

The  earliest  departures  from  the  Roman  structural  and  orna- 
mental forms  seem  to  have  been  made  in  the  Asiatic  provinces, 
—  chiefly  in  the  cities  of  Central  Syria,  —  where  as  early  as  the 
second  and  third  centuries  a  rational  and  consistent  use  of 
arches  and  columns  was  made,  and  the  Greco-Roman  mouldings 
were  admirably  modified  to  suit  new  conditions.^  In  the  later 
constructions  of  this  region,  dating  from  the  fifth  and  sixth 
centuries,  structural  developments  were  reached  which  give  to 
these  monuments  a  strikingly  Romanesque  appearance.^ 

In  these  constructions  arches  always  spring  from  the  heads  of 
the  piers  or  columns,  no  bits  of  entablatures  are  interposed,  and 
no  framing  in  of  the  arches  by  columns  and  entablatures  occurs. 
Where  arches  are  sprung  across  the  nave,  dividing  it  into  bays, 
additional  supports  are  inserted,  which  are  grouped  with  the 
piers  of  the  longitudinal  arcades  in  a  manner  that  foreshadows 
the  grouping  of  supports  in  the  later  Romanesque  and  Gothic 
systems.     These  logical  structural  adjustments  were,  perhaps, 

1  Cf.  the  Pretorium  of  Mousmieh  and  the  Basilica  of  Chaqqa,  described  and 
illustrated  by  M.  de  Vogue,  in  his  Syrie  Centrale.     Paris,  1865-1877. 

2  Cf.  in  the  same  work  the  churches  of  Barbouda,  Roueiha,  Baquaza,  Qalb- 
Louzeh,  and  Tourmanin. 


n  THE  SOURCES  OF  GOTHIC  31 

not  without  influence  upon  the  later  Roman  art  of  the  West. 
The  famous  Arcade  of  Spalato  (circa  300  a.d.),  the  Basilica  of 
Maxentius,  and  other  similar  Roman  works  which  (unlike  most 
Roman  buildings)  exhibit  similar  features,  may  not  improbably, 
in  respect  to  them,  have  been  derived  from  this  Syrian  source. 

The  naves  of  the  churches  of  Central  Syria  were  generally 
covered  with  timber  roofs.  Vaulting  is  rare,  and  the  only  vault 
forms  that  occur  are  the  barrel  vault,  the  dome,  and  the  semi- 
dome.  None  of  these  forms  had  any  part  in  the  evolution  of 
the  Gothic  style,^  and  hence  they  do  not  concern  us  here, 
though  they  were  all  extensively  employed  in  many  varieties  of 
Romanesque.  The  general  absence  of  vaulting  precluded  any 
further  structural  progress  in  this  early  Syrian  architecture, 
unless  the  use  of  short  shafts  resting  on  corbels  against  the 
clerestory  wall  and  supporting  the  timber  roofs,  which  some- 
times occur,^  may  be  regarded  as  foreshadowing  a  similar 
arrangement  that  was  subsequently  employed  in  the  Roman- 
esque of  Southern  France  and  elsewhere. 

To  what  extent  the  rise  of  the  Greco-Roman  architecture  of 
Central  Syria  may  have  been  due  to  an  influence  from  the 
further  East,  it  is  difficult  to  determine ;  but  it  appears  that  in 
Persia  the  arch  had  been  sprung  from  columns  from  very 
ancient  times  —  as  in  the  altars  of  Nakhche-Roustem  ^  dating, 
it  is  believed,  from  before  the  time  of  Cyrus.  By  the  sixth  cen- 
tury A.D.,  a  system  of  blind  shafted  arcades,  with  taller  shafts  at 
intervals  embracing  several  stories  of  an  edifice,  was  in  use,* 
closely  resembling  the  arcades  and  pilaster  strips  of  the  Lom- 
bard and  Rhenish  Romanesque  of  the  Middle  Ages.  But  the 
first  system  in  which  important  innovations  in  vaulting  (where 
all  fundamental  structural  progress  in  mediaeval  architecture 
has  its  rise)  occur  is  the  Byzantine.  Without  attempting  the 
difficult  task  of  explaining  the  manner  in  which  the  rudiments 
of  an  organic  architectural  system,  which  had  arisen  in  the 
farther  East,  were  first  laid  hold  of  by  the  constructors  at  Con- 

1  A  theory  has  been  lately  put  forth  by  M.  Corroyer  {U Architecture  Gothiqtte, 
Paris:  Quantin),  which  derives  the  Gothic  system  from  the  Byzantine  dome  on 
pendentives.  This  theory  has  been  promptly  refuted,  and  it  will  hardly  commend 
itself  to  any  discriminating  student  of  Gothic  art. 

2  As  in  the  Church  of  Qalb-Louzeh,  de  Vogiie,  Op.  cit.,  plate  126, 
^  Dieulafoy,  L'Art  Antique  de  la  Perse,  part  3,  plate  5. 

*  As  at  Ctesiphon,  Dieulafoy,  Op.  cit..,  part  5,  plate  3. 


32  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

stantinople,  it  is  enough  to  observe  that  still  further  improvements 
on  the  Roman  principles  of  design  early  began  to  appear  in 
the  Byzantine  capitol,  where  the  Greek  genius,  under  the  stimu- 
lus of  the  improved  conditions  of  society  that  followed  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  new  seat  of  empire,  exercised  a  dominant  influence. 
In  this  system,  which  first  stands  forth  in  its  complete  character 
in  the  Church  of  St.  Sophia,  we  have  a  consistent  architectural 
type  distinct  from  the  Roman  ;  and  one  which  contains  the  seeds 
of  still  further  development. 

The  most  conspicuous,  and  the  most  distinctive,  feature  of 
the  Byzantine  style,  the  dome  on  pendentives,  does  not  concern 
us  here,  because,  as  already  observed,  the  dome  was  a  form  of 
vault  that  contributed  nothing  toward  the  formation  of  Gothic. 
The  most  pregnant  innovation  of  the  Byzantine  constructors  was 
the  domical  groined  vault  with  which  the  small  square  and  ob- 
long compartments  of  the  aisles  and  the  narthex  of  St.  Sophia 
are  covered.  This  vault  has  nothing  in  common  with  the 
Roman  groined  vault.  It  is  formed  on  a  different,  and  far  more 
flexible,  principle.  The  typical  Roman  groined  vault  consists  of 
two  half-cylinders  of  equal  diameter  intersecting  at  right  angles. 
It  necessarily  has  elliptical  groins  and  level  crowns,  and  can  be 
adjusted  only  to  a  square  area.  Abandoning  the  idea  of  cylin- 
drical interpenetrating  vaults,  the  Byzantine  architect  conceived  a 
form  in  which  the  groins,  as  well  as  the  arches  on  the  four  sides 
of  the  vault,  should  be  semicircular.  This,  as  explained  on  p.  i6, 
raised  the  crowns  of  the  groin  arches  above  the  level  of  the 
crowns  of  the  side  arches,  and  produced  surfaces  that  were  no- 
where cylindrical,  but  were  concaved  more  or  less  like  the  inside 
of  a  dome,  though  no  portion  of  its  surface  is  perfectly  spheri- 
cal. By  this  innovation  the  restriction  to  square  areas  in  groined 
vaulting,  to  which  the  Romans  had  for  the  most  part  been  con- 
fined, was  overcome  without  resort  to  the  device  of  stilting,  by 
means  of  which  the  later  Roman  builders  had  sometimes  awk- 
wardly covered  oblong  compartments.^ 

In  addition  to  this  improvement  in  vaulting  the  Byzantine 
constructors  made  equally  important  improvements  in  the  forms 
of  the  capitals  and  bases  of  columns,  in  adapting  them  to  an 

1  As  in  portions  of  the  Baths  of  Caracalla.  For  illustration  of  Roman  and  Byzan- 
tine vaulting  see  VioUet-le-Duc,  Dictiottnaire,  etc.,  s.v.  Voute,  and  A.  Choisy,  L'Ari 
de  Bdtir  chez  les  Romains  and  U  Art  de  Batir  chez  les  Byzantins. 


11  THE  SOURCES   OF  GOTHIC  33 

arched  system  of  construction.  In  the  arcades  of  St.  Sophia, 
especially  in  those  of  the  apsidal  alcoves  adjoining  the  half- 
domes  that  abut  the  central  dome  east  and  west,  are  columns 
with  capitals  and  bases  which,  as  will  be  shown  in  a  later  chap- 
ter, closely  approach  in  form  those  that  support  the  arcades  of 
the  apsidal  aisles  of  early  Gothic  structures.  Other  features  of 
the  Byzantine  architecture  which  anticipate  those  of  subsequent 
Romanesque  and  Gothic  design  are :  galleries  over  the  aisles,^ 
groups  of  shafted  arches  embraced  by  a  larger  arch,  and  the 
grouping  of  arch  orders  in  receding  planes. 

It  was  long  before  further  developments  took  place.  The 
later  Byzantine  art  exhibits  no  new  structural  features ;  and  in 
the  countries  of  Western  Europe  the  conditions  during  the  early 
Middle  Ages  were  too  unsettled  to  admit  of  architectural  prog- 
ress. Building  activity  continued ;  but  the  types  of  design 
already  created  were  more  or  less  imperfectly  followed  by  the 
unskilled  workmen  of  Italy,  Gaul,  Germany,  and  Britain. 

The  Byzantine  influence  at  Ravenna  during  the  exarchate 
did  little  more  than  to  engraft  some  Byzantine  details  upon  the 
structures  of  the  Christian  Roman  type.  In  the  Church  of  St. 
Apollonare  in  Classe,  however,  a  feature  unknown  to  the 
Byzantine  system  occurs,^  —  that,  namely,  of  a  pilaster  strip 
marking  on  the  exterior  the  internal  divisions  of  the  edifice. 
If  this  be  a  part  of  the  original  work,  it  may,  it  would  seem,  be 
regarded  as  the  earliest  instance  of  the  use  of  a  member  that 
was  ultimately  developed  into  the  Gothic  buttress. 

The  artistic  stimulus  temporarily  given  to  the  arts  of  the 
West  by  Charlemagne  was  not  a  fruitful  one.  The  rough 
Northern  races  that  successively  invaded  the  west  of  Europe 
brought  no  arts  with  them.  They  had  not,  in  their  old  homes, 
reached  a  sufficient  degree  of  civilization  to  develop  any  but 
the  rudest  arts.  The  great  influence  which  these  races  sub- 
sequently exercised  on  the  arts  of  the  West  was  largely  due  to 
the  culture  and  training  which,  after  settlement,  they  acquired 
by  contact  with  the  native  peoples.  This  taught  them  how  to 
bring  their  own  original  genius  into  effective  play,  and  enabled 

1  Cf.  Cattaneo,  IJ  Archite/titra  in  Italia  dal  Secolo  Vial  Milk  Circa,  Venice.  1889, 
p.  38. 

-  Of  which  we  have  noticed  (p.  31)  a  Persian  adumbration  in  the  palace  at 
Ctesiphon. 

D 


34 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 


them  ultimately  to  contribute  so  much  towards  the  formation  of 
the  magnificent  arts  of  the  Middle  Ages.  But  during  the  Car- 
lovingian  epoch  these  Northern  races  did  not  reach  any  con- 
siderable degree  of  independent  artistic  power.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  genius  of  the  Latin  peoples,  depressed  by  the  dispirit- 
ing burdens  and  the  catastrophes  that  had  followed  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  ancient  social  order,  was  at  this  time  inactive.  Hence 
the  monuments  of  this  period  exhibit  few  innovations  on  the 
principles  and  forms  that  had  been  established  in  Roman  and 
Byzantine  art.  The  Church  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  however,  which 
is  a  simplified  copy  of  the  polygonal  Church  of  St.  Vitale  of 
Ravenna,  and  is  the  most  important  building  that  has  survived 
from  the  Carlovingian  epoch,  exhibits  one  peculiarity  that  be- 
speaks constructive  ingenuity  worthy  of  notice.  The  vaulting 
of  the  concentric  aisle  of  the  ground  story  of  this  building  is 
contrived  in  a  manner  that  avoids  the  trapezoidal  compartments 
of  St.  Vitale.  This  is  accomplished  by  doubling  the  number  of 
the  sides  of  the  external  polygon,  so  as  to  get  a  series  of  radiat- 
ing square  vaults  with  intervening  triangular  compartments 
(Fig.  12).  This  arrangement  was  afterwards  reproduced  in 
the  Rotunda  of  Brescia,  and  later  still  in  the  Gothic  apsidal 
aisles  of  Notre- Dame-en-Vaux  (Chalons-sur-Marne)  and  of  the 
Cathedral  of  I.e  Mans. 

The  first  conditions  leading  to  a  vigorous  new  life  in  Western 
Europe,  and  giving  rise  to  fresh  artistic  developments,  seem  to 
have  been  those  which  followed  the  Lombard  settlement  in 
Italy,  and  the  rise  of  the  Italian  republics.  As  before  re- 
marked (p.  9,  note),  no  architectural  innovations  appear  to  have 
been  made  here  during  the  actual  Lombard  dominion,  but  as 
early  as  the  tenth  century  the  germs  of  a  progressive  art  were 
manifest,  and  by  the  middle  of  the  century  following  an  organic 
architectural  system  of  great  novelty  and  excellence  had  been 
produced. 

No  entire  building  of  the  Lombard  Romanesque  type  dat- 
ing from  the  tenth  century  has  come  down  to  us.  But  portions 
of  Lombard  structures  are  preserved,  in  some  of  which,  as  has 
recently  been  pointed  out,^  features  unknown  in  the  older  types 
of  building  occur.     The  most  important  of  these  is  a  compound 

1  See  Cattaneo,  Z'  Architettura  in  Italia  dal  Secolo  VI  al  Mille  Circa. 


THE  SOURCES   OF  GOTHIC 


35 


form  of  support,  consisting  of  a  pilaster-like  member  and  an 
engaged  round  shaft,  apparently  designed  to  carry  vaulting. 
An  example  of  this,  dating  it  is  supposed  from  the  latter  part 
of  the  tenth  century,^  occurs  in  the  Church  of  San  Felice  near 
Vicenza.  In  the  apse  of  St.  Stephano  of  Verona  we  have 
what  it  seems  likely  may  be  the  earliest  extant  instance  of  an 


F](;.  12. 


apsidal  aisle;  and  in  the  vaulting  of  this  aisle  the  arrange- 
ment already  noticed  in  Aix-la-Chapelle  is  again  carried  out.^ 
This  curious  apse  is  constructed  out  of  fragments  that  had 
been  rudely  wrought  for  a  still  earlier  building,  and  exhibits  a 

^  Cf.  Cattaneo,  Ibid.,  p.  229. 

2  The  apsidal  aisle  itself,  a  feature  which  became  so  important  in  the  later  medi- 
aeval church  architecture,  may,  it  would  seem,  very  possibly  have  been  originally 
suggested  by  the  circular  and  polygonal  buildings  with  concentric  aisles  which  had 
been  common  from  early  Christian  times.  Half  of  such  a  building  would  give  the 
rudimentary  form  of  the  apse  of  a  Romanesque  or  Gothic  church. 


36  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

lack  of  executive  skill  which  renders  only  the  more  interesting 
its  novel  system.^  Other  new  architectural  features  that  became 
characteristic  of  the  Lombard  Romanesque,  and  afterwards  of 
many  other  varieties  of  Romanesque  design,  are  corbel-tables, 
pilaster  strips,  aud  ornamental  arcades.  These  already  appear 
in  the  apse  of  San  Vincenzo  in  Prato  at  Milan,  which  dates  from 
the  ninth  century.'^  Beyond  this  it  seems  impossible  now  to 
ascertain  to  what  extent  the  peculiar  Lombard  system  was 
developed  at  this  early  period.  We  learn,  however,  from  these 
fragmentary  remains  that  some  of  its  features  were  then  extant 
in  primitive  form. 

It  is  not  known  that  any  mediaeval  structure  completely 
covered  with  groined  vaults  of  a  date  prior  to  the  year  looo 
survives.  But  we  have  two  important  monuments,  one  at 
least  of  which  dates  apparently  from  the  second  half  of  the 
eleventh  century,  that  exhibit  this  earliest  type  of  organic 
Romanesque  in  a  fully  developed  form,  —  the  Church  of  San 
Michele  of  Pavia,  and  the  Church  of  St.  Ambrogio  of  Milan. 
These  churches  have  the  Western  cruciform  plan;  both  have 
triforium  galleries  and  both  are  vaulted  throughout.  St.  Am- 
brogio is  the  earlier  structure  of  the  two.  Its  nave,  aisles,  and 
triforium  galleries  have  groined  vaulting  in  square,  or  nearly 
square,  compartments,  and  since  the  nave  is  double  the  width 
of  the  aisles,  each  of  its  compartments  necessarily  embraces 
two  of  the  smaller  aisle  compartments.  It  is  to  be  observed 
that  these  vaults  are  constructed  on  the  Byzantine  model, 
having  a  domical  form  rather  than  that  which  results  from  the 
interpenetration  of  half-cylinders  as  in  Roman  groined  vaults. 
This  is  an  important  characteristic,  and  its  occurrence  here  in 
the  very  earliest  form  of  organic  Romanesque  design  is  signifi- 
cant. For,  as  we  shall  see,  it  was  the  Byzantine,  and  not  the 
Roman,  groined  vault  that  lent  itself  to  those  subsequent 
developments  which  culminated  in  the  Gothic.  How  the 
Lombard  builders  were  led  to  the  use  of  this  form  of  vault, 
we  have  no  means  of  knowing.  They  may  have  become 
acquainted  with  it  through  the  Byzantine  works  at  Ravenna, 
where  it  occurs  in  the  porch  and  on  the  east  side  of  St.  Vitale.^ 

1  Cf.  Cattaneo,  Z'  Architettura  in  Italia  dal  Secolo  VI  al  Mille  Circa,  p.  2 1 3. 

2  Cattaneo,  Ibid.,  p.  212. 

^  Cf.  Dartein,  Etude  sur  I' Architecture  Lombarde,  Paris,  1865-1882. 


II  THE  SOURCES   OF  GOTHIC  yj 

However  this  may  be,  they  appear  to  have  promptly  recognized 
its  structural  advantages  and  they  soon  developed  it  farther 
in  a  remarkable  manner. 

In  the  vaulting  of  St.  Sophia,  already  noticed,  a  strong 
salient  arch  is  sprung  over  each  of  the  four  sides  of  each 
compartment.^  Similar  arches  bound  the  vaults  of  the  aisles 
and  triforium  galleries  of  St.  Ambrogio.  But  in  the  vaulting 
of  the  nave  of  this  later  edifice  features  are  introduced  that 
we  have  not  before  met  with,  and  which  constitute  the  first 
and  most  far-reaching  Lombard  innovation ;  namely,  salient 
arches,  or  ribs,  following  and  strengthening  the  groins.  This 
was  a  device  of  great  importance  ;  for  these  groin  ribs,  to- 
gether with  the  bounding  arches,  formed  a  complete  supporting 
skeleton  by  means  of  which  the  stone  ceiling  could  be  made 
much  lighter  than  before,  and  which  ultimately  gave  the  greatest 
freedom  in  vault  construction.  To  support  these  arches  and 
ribs,  corresponding  additions  were  made  to  the  great  piers 
which  gave  each  member  in  the  vault  its  own  vertical  support. 
A  similar  support  was  also  given  to  each  of  the  arches  of  the 
ground  story  and  triforium ;  and  thus  was  produced  the  earliest 
form  of  the  compound  pier,  which  is  a  peculiar  feature  of  the 
Northern  Romanesque  and  Gothic  art.  The  illustration 
(Fig.  13)  will  explain  this  system.  It  will  be  seen  that  the 
heavy  transverse  rib  of  the  vault  rests  on  a  pilaster  rising 
from  the  pavement,  that  the  diagonal  rib  rests  on  an  engaged 
round  column  placed  in  the  reentrant  angle  between  the  first 
pilaster  and  a  second  one  which  carries  the  wall  rib,  and  that 
the  doubled  archivolts  of  the  ground  story  are  carried  by  the 
second  pilaster  and  an  engaged  shaft,  while  those  of  the  tri- 
forium gallery  are  carried  on  a  short  pilaster  and  an  engaged 
shaft.  The  inner  half  of  the  small  transverse  rib  {a  in  the 
figure)  that  separates  the  two  aisle  vaults  comprised  within  each 
of  the  greater  bays  of  the  nave  is  carried  by  a  small  rectan- 
gular intermediate  pier  having  an  engaged  shaft  on  either 
side  to  support  the  sub-order  of  the  great  archivolts.  This  inter- 
mediate pier  carries  also  a  diminutive  shaft  {b)  rising  against 
the  arcade  spandrels  nearly  to  the  triforium  string.  Above 
this  a  very  low  pier,  of  like  form  to  the  one  below,  carries 
the  archivolts  of  the  triforium.     Thus  we  have  in  St.  Ambrogio 

^  As  is  the  case,  also,  in  some  of  the  ancient  cisterns  of  Constantinople. 


38 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


a  system  in  which  the  great  piers  supporting  the  larger  vaulting 
of  the  nave  alternate  with  smaller  piers  whose  function  is  con- 
fined to  the  vaulting  of  the  aisles.  This  functional  alternation 
of  large  and  small  piers  is  characteristic  of  the  early  vaulted 
Lombard  structures.     It  is  a  consequence  of  the  employment 


Fig.  13.  —  St.  Ambrogio  of  Milan. 

of  vaulting  in  square  areas  where  the  aisles  are  but  half  as  wide 
as  the  nave,  and  the  number  of  vaults  in  each  aisle  is  twice  as 
great  as  in  the  nave. 

It  may  be  well  to  remark  that  two  types  of  groined-vaulted 
buildings  occur  in  Northwestern  Europe  during  the  Middle  Ages, 
which  may  be  called,  respectively,  the  alternate  and  the  uniform  ; 
the  alternate   type,  like  St.  Ambrogio,  having  the  vault  com- 


THE  SOURCES   OE  GOTHIC 


39 


partments  arranged  as  at  A,  Fig.  14,  and  the  uniform  having 
them  arranged  as  at  B  in  the  same  figure.  The  alternate  system 
seems  to  have  originated  in  the  early  Lombard  Romanesque, 
while  the  uniform  system  appears  to  have  been  developed  in 
Northern  France.  In  some  cases  the  vaulting  of  the  later 
Lombard  edifices  has  been  remodelled  into  the  form  that  be- 
longs to  the  uniform  system,  while  the  substructure  retains 
the  alternate  form  —  as  in  the  Cathedral  at  Parma.  In  the 
Northern  Romanesque  and  Gothic  schools  both  types  occur 
with  almost  equal  fre- 
quency.^ 

In  St.  Ambrogio 
the  thrusts  of  the  vault- 
ing of  the  nave  are  met 
by  heavy  cross-walls 
built  over  the  trans- 
verse ribs  of  the  vault- 
ing of  the  triforium 
gallery,  and  these  are 
in  turn  reenforced  by 
vigorously  salient  pilas- 
ter buttresses  against 
the  outside  wall.  The 
whole  structure  is  cov- 
ered by  an  unbroken 
gable  roof  of  timber 
up  to  the  rafters  of 
which  the  abutting  cross-walls  of  the  triforium  are  carried. 
There  is  consequently  no  clerestory,  and  the  abutments  are 
effective  for  their  purpose.  Great  progress  in  the  direction 
of  an  organic  system  is  thus  manifest  in  St.  Ambrogio.  A 
rudimentary  skeleton  runs  through  the  whole  edifice,  though 
the  heavy  walls  of  the  ancient  types  of  buildings  still  remain. 

1  The  kind  of  alternation  that  occurs  in  some  of  the  liasilican  churches,  as  in  St. 
Prassede  of  Rome,  San  Miniato  near  Florence,  St.  Michael,  Ilildersheim,  and  others, 
is  of  a  different  character  and  from  a  different  origin.  In  l)uildings  of  this  class  the 
alternate  arrangement  of  the  piers  has  no  reference  to  vaulting,  and  vaulting  does 
not  occur.  The  great  piers  which  are  introduced  among  the  columns  carry  trans- 
verse arches  with  cross-walls  built  over  them,  which  divide  the  timber-roofed  nave 
into  rectangular  compartments.  There  are  usually  in  such  buildings  several  col- 
umns, instead  of  only  one,  between  every  pair  of  piers. 


40  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

Beyond  this  the  Lombard  builders  did  not  go.  The  spirit  of 
structural  invention  here  displayed  was  exhausted  before  the 
end  of  the  eleventh  century.  The  native  Italian  genius,  with 
its  classic  predilections,  reasserted  itself  more  and  more  as 
time  went  on.  Some  fine  monuments  of  the  Lombard  type 
were,  it  is  true,  erected  during  the  twelfth  century,  but  they 
exhibit  no  new  features  save  such  as  were  probably  borrowed 
from  the  then  growing  art  of  Northern  France. 

The  beginnings  of  the  organic  Romanesque  in  the  countries 
north  of  the  Alps  are  obscure.  Few  important  innovations  in 
vaulting,  and  few  indications  of  a  new  system  growing  out  of 
such  innovations,  appear  in  this  region  before  the  close  of  the 
eleventh  century.  Certainly  no  vaulted  nave  comparable  to  that 
of  St.  Ambrogio  of  Milan  is  known  to  have  been  constructed 
here  at  so  early  a  time.  It  is  improbable  that  any  of  the  naves 
of  Northern  Europe  were  covered  with  groined  vaults  before  the 
beginning  of  the  twelfth  century. 

The  most  important  monuments  of  the  grand  Romanesque 
architecture  of  Rhenish  Germany  as  they  now  exist,  Mayence, 
Speyer,  and  Worms,  were  all  erected  after  this  time.  In  these 
buildings  the  Lombard  influence  is  strikingly  apparent.  Of  the 
structural  systems  just  noticed  the  alternate  is  the  most  preva- 
lent in  the  Rhenish  churches ;  but  while  they  mainly  follow  the 
Lombard  models,  they  exhibit  many  changes  in  proportions, 
and  many  different  adjustments  of  structural  parts,  yet  they  do 
not  develop  any  new  features  of  a  progressive  character.  The 
Rhenish  architects  do  not  appear  to  have  been  inventive  builders. 
On  the  other  hand,  important  structural  elements  of  the  Lom- 
bard system  are  often  omitted  in  their  works,  as  at  Speyer,  where 
the  groin  rib  and  the  buttress  are  wanting.  Hence  the  Rhenish 
Romanesque,  though  a  noble  architecture,  is  not  important  in 
the  sense  of  having  contributed  largely  towards  the  formation 
of  the  Gothic  style  ;  and  its  many  admirable  qualities  do  not, 
therefore,  concern  us  here. 

The  Romanesque  of  Southern  Gaul  is  still  less  important  in 
any  consideration  of  the  sources  of  Gothic.  The  provinces 
bordering  on  the  Mediterranean  long  retained  the  artistic  tradi- 
tions of  the  brilliant  Roman  civilization  of  which  they  had 
been  the  seat ;  and  the  numerous  remains  of  the  extensive  and 
magnificent  Roman  monuments  which  had  been  erected  here 


II  THE  SOURCES   OE  GOTHIC  41 

naturally  supplied  the  chief  inspiration  to  the  builders  of  this 
region  in  the  Middle  Ages.  The  principles  and  leading  forms 
of  the  mediaeval  buildings  of  Southern  Gaul  are  thus  essentially 
Roman,  though  features  derived  from  other  than  Roman 
sources  are  not  wanting.  The  larger  churches,  like  most  others 
in  Western  Europe,  have  a  modified  basilican  plan,  with  a  barrel 
vault,  of  either  round  or  pointed  section,  over  the  nave,  and  with 
smaller  vaults,  or  half-vaults,  of  the  same  form  over  the  aisles. 
The  aisles  are,  in  many  cases,  so  high  as  to  preclude  a  clere- 
story, and  thus  their  vaults  act  effectively  as  abutments  to  the 
central  vault.^  The  vaulting  of  naves  was  more  general  in  this 
region  than  elsewhere  during  the  eleventh  century ;  but  pro- 
gressive developments  were  impossible  in  connection  with  the 
form  of  vault  here  used.  It  is  true  that  vigorous  and  salient 
transverse  arches  strengthen  these  barrel  vaults  and  divide  them 
into  bays,  and  that  these,  together  with  the  archivolts,  give  rise 
to  the  use  of  compound  piers  similar  to  those  of  the  Lombard 
Romanesque  ;  but  farther  than  this  it  was  impossible  to  go 
while  retaining  this  form  of  vault.  It  may  here  be  remarked 
that  a  provincial  Roman  prototype  of  this  form  of  mediaeval 
structure  occurs  in  the  remains  of  the  Baths  of  Diana  at  Nimes. 
But  with  the  merits  and  defects  of  the  Romanesque  architec- 
ture of  Southern  Gaul  we  need  not  further  concern  ourselves, 
because  it  is  mainly  a  survival  of  an  ancient  system,  rather  than 
a  vital  development  leading  on  towards  Gothic.  The  occasional 
use  of  the  pointed  arch  as  the  generating  form  in  the  vaults  of 
these  churches  has,  indeed,  been  regarded  by  some  writers  as 
having  a  bearing  on  the  origin  of  Gothic.  But  the  pointed  arch 
thus  used  has  little  structural  significance,  and  affords  nothing 
to  warrant  this  view. 

Before  taking  up  the  more  vital  Romanesque  of  the  North- 
ern provinces,  we  must,  in  order  to  clear  the  ground  of  all 
irrelevant  types,  briefly  examine  two  other  forms  of  mediaeval 
architecture  that  occur  sporadically  in  those  parts  of  Gaul  which 
lie  south  and  east  of  the  Loire.  The  first  of  these  is  represented 
by  only  one  important  building,  the  Church  of  St.  Philibert  of 
Tournus  (Saone-et- Loire),  dating  from  the  first  quarter  of  the 
eleventh  century.      Here  we  have  a  nave  covered  with  a  suc- 

1  The  barrel-vaulted  churches  of  Southern  France  are  admirably  described  and 
illustrated  by  M.  Revoil,  Architecture  Rovtane  du  Midi  de  la  France.     Paris,  1873. 


42  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

cession  of  barrel  vaults  whose  axes  are  perpendicular  to  the 
long  axis  of  the  building.  They  are  carried  on  transverse  arches 
springing  from  short  shafts  which  rest  on  great  cylindrical  col- 
umns that  support  the  main  arcades  and  divide  the  nave  from  the 
aisles.  The  aisles  are  covered  with  groined  vaults  on  transverse 
ribs.  Such  a  system  has  some  advantages.  The  vaulting  of 
the  nave  exerts  no  lateral  thrusts,  and  it  admits  of  openings  in 
the  ends  of  the  vaults  like  those  of  a  clerestory.  But  it  is  pon- 
derous and  inelegant,  and  never  came  into  general  use.  This 
curious  building,  as  shown  by  M.  Dieulafoy,^  resembles  in  its 
main  features  certain  ancient  Persian  and  Syrian  types,  and  is 
supposed  by  this  author  to  have  had  an  important  influence  on 
the  formation  of  Gothic  by  preparing  the  way  for  an  organic 
subdivision  into  bays.  Such  subdivision  as  this  goes,  however, 
but  little  way  in  the  direction  of  the  Gothic  system. 

The  other  sporadic  type,  distinctly  an  exotic,  is  that  of  the 
Church  of  St.  Front  at  Perigueux  (Dordogne)  and  its  offshoots, 
the  churches  at  Angouleme  and  Fontevrault,  and  a  considerable 
group  of  smaller  buildings  in  Aquitaine.  St.  Front  is  a  Byzan- 
tine structure  vaulted  with  domes  on  pendentives.  The  use  of 
the  pointed  arch  in  the  support  of  these  domes  has  led  some 
writers  to  suppose  that  this  monument  might  be  regarded  as  con- 
stituting a  step  in  the  direction  of  Gothic.  But  the  pointed  arch 
as  here  used  has  no  more  structural  significance  than  it  has  in  the 
barrel  vaults  of  the  Southern  provinces.  The  system  is  iden- 
tical with  that  of  St.  Sophia  of  Constantinople,  except  that  it 
lacks  those  features  in  which  lay  the  promise  of  progress,  chiefly 
the  domical  groined  vault,  already  noticed  as  occurring  in  that 
monument.^  Hence  St.  Front  and  the  buildings  derived  from 
it  have  little  relationship  with  the  organic  Romanesque  out  of 
which  the  Gothic  was  a  natural  development. 

To  these  comparatively  inorganic  types  ^  of  Southern  France 
and  of  Aquitaine  may  be  added  the  mixed  form  of  architecture 
that  occurs  in  the  region  lying  between  the  extreme  south  and 

1  IJArt  Antique  de  la  Perse,  vol.  v.  p.  165. 

2  For  a  full  description  of  the  Church  of  St.  Front  see  the  admirable  work  of 
M.  F.  de  Verneilh,  IJ Architecture  Byzantine  en  France.     Paris,  185 1. 

^  It  is  unnecessary  for  our  purpose  to  notice  those  types  of  Romanesque  design 
in  which,  as  in  Vignory,  and  the  original  nave  of  .St.  Remi  at  Reims,  the  general 
forms  and  the  structural  arrangements  are  essentially  those  of  the  Christian  Roman 
basilica. 


11  THE  SOURCES  OF  GOTHIC  43 

the  more  northerly  provinces,  where  a  different  structural 
system  was  in  use.  In  the  North  the  groined  vault  had  been 
almost  as  exclusively  employed  from  the  first  as  had  the  barrel 
vault  in  the  South.  But  in  parts  of  Burgundy  and  Auvergne  the 
architectural  influences  of  the  North  and  South  meet  and  give 
rise  to  buildings  which  partake  of  the  characteristics  of  both  — ■ 
that  is  to  say,  buildings  in  which  the  barrel  vault  and  the  groined 
vault  are  used  conjointly.  This  mixed  form  of  structure  was 
carried  out  in  the  grandest  Romanesque  edifice  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  the  vast  and  magnificent  Abbey  Church  of  Cluny,  which, 
before  the  erection  of  the  modern  St.  Peter's  at  Rome,  was  the 
largest  church  edifice  in  the  world. ^  In  buildings  of  this  class  we 
have  a  barrel  vault  over  the  nave  and  groined  vaulting  in  the 
aisles.  These  aisle  vaults,  unlike  the  greater  part  of  those  of 
the  Southern  Romanesque,  are  low  enough  to  afford  space  for 
a  clerestory.  This  arrangement  is  illogical  and  inherently  weak, 
though  by  heavy  walls  and  vigorous  buttressing  buildings  thus 
designed  were  often  made  to  stand.  The  Church  of  Cluny  might 
probably  have  been  intact  to-day  had  it  not  been  destroyed  by 
violence  during  the  revolution  of  1788;  and  among  the  monu- 
ments which  were  similarly  constructed  two  important  ones,  the 
Cathedral  of  Autun  and  the  Church  of  Paray-le-Monial,  have 
survived.  In  the  Church  of  Notre-Dame  du  Port,  Clermont- 
Ferrand,  a  similar  arrangement  occurs,  save  for  the  addition  of 
a  triforium  gallery  covered  with  half-barrel  vaults  which  abut 
the  central  vault  and  leave  no  space  for  a  clerestory. 

We  may  now  turn  our  attention  to  those  Northern  types  of 
Romanesque  that  were  the  immediate  precursors  of  the  Gothic. 
These  are  mainly  confined  to  the  provinces  of  Burgundy,  Nor- 
mandy, and  the  Ile-de-France.  Here  the  principles  of  the 
Lombard  system  reappear,  and  are  carried  out  with  various 
modifications  and  progressive  changes.  The  type  characteristic 
of  Burgundy  is  magnificently  developed  in  the  nave  of  the 
Abbey  Church  of  Vezelay,  which  dates  from  the  commencement 
of  the  twelfth  century.  Here  we  have  a  uniform  system  with 
quadripartite  vaulting  in  oblong  compartments  over  the  nave, 
and  square  vaults  of  the  same  kind  in  the  aisles.  The  system 
is  perfectly  organic  as  far  as  it  is  developed ;  but  while  vigor- 

^  For  a  full  description  of  this  monument  see  the  work  of  M.  J.  Viery,  V Archi- 
tecture Romane  dans  V Ancien  Diocese  de  Macon.     Paris,  1892. 


44  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

ous  transverse  ribs  of  two  orders  separate  the  vaulting  com- 
partments, one  from  another,  and  longitudinal  ribs  span  their 
narrow  ends,  no  groin  ribs  occur.  The  absence  of  the  groin 
rib,  and  the  omission  of  triforium  openings,  which  here,  as  in 
some  other  Romanesque  buildings  of  the  north  of  France,  do 
not  occur,  show  a  somewhat  backward  character  and  would 
seem  to  indicate  a  Rhenish  influence,  though  the  Church  of 
Laach,  the  Rhenish  monument  which  Vezelay  most  resembles, 
is  of  somewhat  later  date.  The  vaulting  is  again  of  the  domi- 
cal or  Byzantine  type,  which  adjusts  itself  as  readily  to  the 
oblong  as  to  the  square  plan.  The  pier  has  a  broad  pilaster- 
like member  rising  from  the  pavement  and  supporting  the  first 
order  of  the  transverse  rib,  while  an  engaged  round  shaft  carries 
the  sub-order  of  the  same.  The  longitudinal  rib  springs  from 
a  short  rectangular  support  which  rests  on  the  triforium  ledge. 
The  ground-story  archivolts  and  the  transverse  ribs  of  the 
aisles,  which  last,  like  those  of  the  nave,  are  of  two  orders,  are 
carried  by  supports  like  those  of  the  corresponding  members 
in  the  nave.  The  principles  of  the  Lombard  system  are  thus 
here  applied  to  a  building  of  the  uniform  type  by  substituting 
for  the  square  vault  of  the  nave  an  oblong  one ;  and  although, 
from  the  omission  of  the  groin  rib,  the  design  is  not  so  com- 
pletely organic  as  that  of  a  typical  Lombard  edifice,  it  is  carried 
out  with  unprecedented  precision  and  elegance.  The  general 
proportions  and  adjustments  of  the  parts  mark  a  distinct  advance 
on  Lombard  achievement,  especially  in  the  greater  elevation  of 
the  vaults,  affording  space  for  a  well-developed  clerestory.  St. 
Ambrogio  of  Milan  has,  as  we  have  seen,  no  clerestory,  while 
the  clerestory  of  San  Michele  of  Pavia,  in  the  original  form  of  the 
building,  was  insignificant.  But  in  Vezelay  the  clerestory  is  of 
ample  dimensions,  and  greatly  enhances  the  general  effect  of 
the  interior.  The  exterior  of  this  nave  was  much  changed  in 
appearance  within  a  century  after  its  erection  by  the  addition 
of  flying  buttresses.  The  salient  pilaster  buttresses,  with  which 
alone  it  was  originally  furnished,  were  inadequate,  and  the  sub- 
sequent introduction  of  the  flying  buttresses  was  necessary  to 
maintain  the  stability  of  the  structure.  But  in  other  respects 
the  edifice  was  admirably  designed  for  strength  and  permanence, 
as  well  as  for  artistic  effect. 

In  no  part  of  Europe  during  the  eleventh  century  was  the 


11  THE  SOURCES  OF  GOTHIC  45 

activity  in  building  greater  than  in  Normandy.  But  the  early 
Norman  Romanesque  is  of  the  plainest  type,  in  which  the  primi- 
tive provincial  basilican  characteristics  largely  persist.  Mas- 
sive rectangular  piers  with  few  subordinate  members,  heavy 
archivolts,  a  low  triforium  if  any,  and  a  thick-walled  clerestory 
with  small  round-headed  openings  characterize  this  type.  The 
naves  of  these  early  structures  were  covered  with  timber  roofs 
only.  The  Abbey  Church  of  Bernay,i  in  its  original  parts, 
illustrates  this  type.  The  Church  of  St.  Gervais  of  Falaise,^ 
which  dates  from  about  1050,  illustrates  a  more  advanced  type, 
in  which  the  nave  is  divided  more  completely  into  bays.  St. 
Gervais  has  an  engaged  shaft  in  each  pier,  which  rises  from  the 
pavement  to  the  top  of  the  wall  of  the  nave.  Such  a  shaft  has  no 
necessary  function,  in  an  unvaulted  structure,  though  it  may  be 
used  to  carry  the  trusses  of  the  timber  roof.  Shafts  thus  rising 
to  the  top  of  the  walls  are  common  in  the  Norman  Romanesque 
of  the  eleventh  century  ;  and  they  seem  to  be  a  result  of  unin- 
telligent copying  of  piers  organically  composed  to  carry  vaulting 
—  like  those  of  the  Lombard  builders.  The  Normans,  in  fact, 
though  active  constructors,  seem  not  to  have  been  altogether 
logical  designers,  and  not  to  have  fully  perceived  the  significance 
of  the  parts  in  the  architectural  system  from  which  they  appear 
to  have  derived  their  first  notions  of  organic  building.  This 
seems  to  be  further  shown  by  the  practice,  not  uncommon  among 
them,  of  inserting  an  engaged  shaft  on  the  aisle  side  of  the 
pier,  in  unvaulted  aisles,  and  prolonging  this  shaft  to  the  lean-to 
aisle  roof  —  as  in  the  Church  of  Notre-Dame-sur-l'Eau,  Dom- 
front.^  In  designs  like  the  foregoing  the  piers  are  uniform  in 
size  and  composition,  and  the  great  shafts  dividing  the  nave 
into  oblong  bays  became  very  common  in  Normandy,  though  as 
yet  there  was  no  vaulting  except  in  the  aisles. 

But  while  the  naves  of  Norman  churches  were,  before  the 
twelfth  century,  unvaulted,  earlier  instances  of  vaulting  over  the 
choir  are  not  wanting.  The  choir,  as  has  been  remarked  by  M. 
Ruprich-Robert,^  being  short  (rarely  at  this  time  consisting  of 
more  than  two  bays),  afforded,  in  the  great  piers  of  the  crossing 
and  the  heavy  walls  of  the  east  end,  secure  abutments  to  the 

^  Ruprich-Robert,  ^Architecture  lYormancfe,  vol.  i.  plate  xi. 
2  Ibid.,  plate  xix.  ^  Ibid.,  plate  xxii. 

*  V Architecture  Normande,  vol.  i.  p.  71. 


46  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

thrusts  of  vaulting.  The  early  Norman  builders  were  conse- 
quently less  timid  in  regard  to  erecting  vaults  here  than  they 
appear  to  have  been  in  the  nave.  Among  extant  Norman  choirs 
that  were  thus  vaulted  during  the  second  half  of  the  eleventh 
century  are  those  of  the  Abbaye-aux-Dames  and  the  Church  of 
St.  Nicolas  at  Caen,  and  that  of  St.  George  at  Bocherville.  In 
none  of  these  vaults  do  groin  ribs  occur,  though  strong  transverse 
ribs  are  employed  in  all  of  them.  In  the  Abbaye-aux-Dames,  the 
compartments  of  these  choir  vaults  are  nearly  square  in  plan, 
and  the  vaults  are  built  on  the  Roman  model  with  elliptical 
groins  and  level  crowns.  In  St.  Nicolas  the  compartments 
are  oblong,  and  the  cross-cells  have  an  approximately  elliptical 
section.  In  the  St.  George,  Bocherville,  also  the  compartments 
are  oblong,  and  here  the  vaulting  is  of  the  domical  form.^ 

The  Normans  seem  to  have  made  no  use  of  groin  ribs  until 
they  began  to  vault  their  naves  in  the  early  part  of  the  twelfth 
century,  some  time  after  such  ribs  had  been  in  use  in  the  neigh- 
bouring province  of  the  Ile-de-France.  The  first  vaulted  nave 
appears  to  have  been  that  of  the  Abbaye-aux-Hommes  at  Caen, 
which  was  at  first  constructed  with  a  timber  roof  early  in  the 
second  half  of  the  eleventh  century.  The  date  of  this  vaulting 
has  not  been  ascertained  with  precision,  but  its  character  indi- 
cates that  it  can  hardly  be  later  than  the  first  quarter  of  the 
twelfth  century.  It  has  a  form  that  we  have  not  before  met 
with,  which  seems  to  have  been  suggested  by  the  alternate 
system  here  employed.^ 

^  The  vaulting  of  St.  Nicolas  at  Caen  and  St.  George  at  Bocherville,  I  have  not 
examined  at  first  hand.  My  account  of  them  is  based  on  the  work  already  cited  of 
M.  V.  Ruprich-Robert. 

2  This  alternate  system  does  not  appear  to  have  been  in  use  north  of  the  Alps  be- 
fore the  second  half  of  the  eleventh  century.  Then,  in  the  Abbey  Church  of  Jumieges, 
dating  from  about  1050,  and  here  in  the  Abbaye-aux-Hommes,  dating  from  1064,  it 
occurs;  and  in  subsequent  Norman  buildings  it  became  frequent.  There  can  be 
little  question  that  this  system  was,  as  remarked  in  the  preceding  chapter,  introduced 
into  Normandy  through  a  direct  influence  from  Lombardy.  This  has,  however, 
been  questioned.  M.  Ruprich-Robert  (^IJ Architecture  Normande')  maintains  the 
affirmative,  basing  his  argument  largely  on  the  work  of  Dartein  {itude  sur  P Archi- 
tecture Lombarde'),  whose  dates  for  the  churches  of  St.  Ambrogio  of  Milan,  and  San 
Michele  of  Pavia,  have  lately  been  disputed.  M.  Lefevre-Pontalis  {^IJ Architecture 
Religieuse  dans  PAncien  Diocese  de  Soissons,  etc.)  discusses  the  theory  of  M.  Ruprich- 
Robert  and  rejects  it  on  the  ground  that  Dartein's  dates  are,  in  his  view,  untrust- 
worthy, and  maintains  that  the  nave  of  St.  Ambrogio  is  a  work  of  the  twelfth  century, 
and  hence  could  not  have  furnished  the  medel  (as  M.  Ruprich-Robert  supposes  it  to 


n  THE  SOURCES  OF  GOTHIC  47 

The  builders  of  the  Ile-de-France  seem  to  have  been  experi- 
menting with  the  groin  rib  from  the  beginning  of  the  century 
if  not  before  ;  but  they  confined  their  early  experiments  to  vaults 
of  small  magnitude.  Whether  any  naves  in  this  province  had 
been  covered  with  ribbed  vaulting  before  the  first  Norman 
works  of  this  kind  on  a  large  scale  were  undertaken  is  uncer- 
tain. But  apparently  no  nave  so  large  as  that  of  the  Abbaye- 
aux-Hommes  had  before  been  thus  vaulted.  It  was  therefore  a 
bold  undertaking,  in  the  execution  of  which  the  inexperienced 

have  done)  for  the  Xorman  structures  that  we  are  considering.  Sig.  Cattaneo, 
however,  has,  as  already  remarked,  thrown  new  light  on  the  origin  of  the  Lombard 
Romanesque,  and  especially  upon  the  dates  of  these  two  leading  monuments.  This 
author  shows  (Z'  Architettura  in  Italia  dal  secolo  VI  al  Milk  circa,  pp.  210,  21 1) 
that  Dartein  has  erred,  and  seems  to  exhaust  the  subject  of  the  dates  of  the  various 
portions  of  St.  Ambrogio  —  summing  up  his  argument  as  follows:  "  Tutte  le  sues- 
poste  considerazioni  m'  inducono  a  credere,  che  le  navi  odierne  del  Sant'  Ambrogio 
sorgessero  nella  seconda  metci  del  secolo  XI,  e  1'  atrio  sul  principio  del  seguente, 
poco  prima  del  campanile  nuovo  che,  come  si  sa,  data  dal  11 29.  Percio  riassu- 
mendo,  la  piii  probabile  storia  dei  restauri  portati  alia  celebre  basilica  penso  che  sia 
questa :  L'  arcivescovo  Angilberto  fra  1'  824  e  1'  859  ne  allungo  la  parte  superiore, 
construendo  dai  fondamenti  le  tre  abside,  e  rifece  assai  probabilmente  le  antiche 
navate.  L'  arcivescovo  Ansperto  fra  1'  868  e  1'  881  compi  il  restauro  della  chiesa 
rifabbricandone  il  quadriportico.  Nella  seconda  meta  del  secolo  XI  si  riedificarono  le 
tre  navi  ed  il  nartece,  rispettandosi  le  absidi  di  Angilberto;  si  costrui  la  cripta,  la 
parte  superiore  del  ciborio,  1'  ambone,  e  si  orno  il  presbiterio  di  stucchi,  musaici  e 
pitture.  Intorno  all'  anno  iioo  si  riedifico  il  resto  del  quadriportico.  Nel  11 29  fu 
inalzato  il  secondo  campanile,  e  nel  11 96  si  riparo  ai  guasti  recati  all'  edificio  per  la 
caduta  di  una  volta  della  nave  principale,  si  restauro  1'  ambone  danneggiato  e  si 
eresse  a  nuovo  la  cupola."  Now  if  we  may  suppose  that  the  nave  of  St.  Ambrogio 
dates  from  the  early  part  of  the  second  half  of  the  eleventh  century,  we  may  accept 
the  view  of  M.  Ruprich-Robert  that  the  alternate  system  of  the  Abbaye-aux-Hommes 
of  Caen  was  the  result  of  a  direct  influence  from  Lombardy,  though  not,  perhaps, 
from  the  Church  of  San  Michele  of  Pavia,  the  building  thought  by  him  to  have  fur- 
nished the  model.  This  latter  church  is  thought  by  Sig.  Cattaneo  {Ibid.,  p.  211, 
note)  to  be  mainly  a  work  of  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century.  M.  Ruprich- 
Robert  finds  ground  for  his  belief  in  the  fact  that  Lanfranc,  who  was  abbot  of  the 
house  in  Caen  when  the  church  was  building,  had  come  from  Pavia.  This  conclu- 
sion is  not  necessarily  weakened  by  the  now  generally  accepted  (though  still  ques- 
tionable) opinion  that  the  nave  of  San  Michele  is  a  work  of  the  twelfth  century. 
For  the  earlier  church  of  St.  Ambrogio,  which  exhibits  a  similar  system,  is  close  to 
Pavia,  and  must  have  been  well  known  to  Lanfranc.  Moreover,  it  can  hardly  be 
doubted  that  other  monuments  of  the  Lombard  type  had  existed  in  Italy  from  the 
early  part  of  the  eleventh  century,  though  the  naves  of  such  monuments  are  not 
known  to  have  been  vaulted  until  a  later  period.  The  Church  of  SS.  Pietro  e  Paolo 
of  Bologna  affords,  perhaps,  an  instance.  The  Lombard  derivation  of  the  alternate 
system  of  the  Abbaye-aux-Hommes  may  then,  it  would  seem,  be  considered  as  pretty 
well  established. 


48  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

Norman  builders  may  naturally  have  felt  the  need  of  caution. 
The  design  of  the  substructure  being  substantially  like  that  of 
the  Lombard  models,  they  may  be  supposed  to  have  originally 
intended  to  vault  it  in  the  Lombard  manner ;  that  is,  by  square 
compartments,  each  embracing  two  compartments  of  the  aisles 
as  shown  at  A,  Fig.  14,  p.  39.  In  the  original  work  of  1064 
the  shaft  of  the  intermediate  pier,  which  in  the  Lombard  proto- 
types had  not  risen  above  the  triforium,  was  carried  up,  like 
those  of  the  main  piers,  to  the  top  of  the  wall.  To  prepare  for 
the  vaulting,  these  shafts  had  now  to  be  cut  down  to  a  lower 
level ;  and  the  presence  of  the  intermediate  shaft  may  have  sug- 
gested the  expediency,  in  view  of  the  great  height  and  width  of 
the  nave,  of  springing  an  intermediate  transverse  rib  from  it  as 
a  measure  of  precaution.  Such  a  rib  was  accordingly  inserted, 
and  this  rib,  by  dividing  each  of  the  lateral  triangular  spaces, 
of  what  would  otherwise  have  been  a  square  quadripartite  vault, 
into  two  smaller  ones,  produced  the  sexpartite  form  of  vault, 
which  subsequently  became  an  important  type  in  the  Gothic 
system.  This  vaulting  is  curiously  formed  and  rudely  con- 
structed. Those  portions  the  axes  of  which  lie  in  the  direction 
of  the  long  axis  of  the  nave  have  level  crowns,  as  in  Roman 
vaulting  ;  but  the  groin  arches,  which  on  the  Roman  principle 
would  be  elliptical,  are  segments  of  less  than  half-circles.  This, 
of  course,  somewhat  distorts  the  vault  surfaces,  while  at  the 
springing  the  segmental  groins  necessarily  form  angles  with 
their  vertical  supports.  The  lateral  cells  describe  elliptical 
arches  against  the  clerestory  walls,  and  their  axes  are  neces- 
sarily oblique.  No  longitudinal  ribs  occur  in  this  vaulting,  but 
for  the  transverse  ribs  and  the  groin  ribs  the  piers  as  originally 
designed  provide  the  requisite  supports.  In  order  to  prepare 
these  piers  to  receive  the  ribs  of  the  vaulting,  the  vault  sup- 
ports of  the  main  piers  had  to  be  slightly  modified  in  form,  as 
well  as  cut  down.  The  needed  modification  was  confined  to 
the  pilaster,  which  was  shortened  to  a  level  somewhat  below 
that  of  the  springing,  and  a  short  shaft  on  each  side  of  the 
central  vaulting  shaft  was  inserted  to  carry  the  groin  ribs 
{a,  Fig.  15).  The  sexpartite  vault  thus,  as  it  would  seem, 
fortuitously  brought  into  existence,  appears  to  have  been  the 
only  important  innovation  made  by  the  Norman  builders  ;  un- 
less the   rudimentary   flying    buttress,    referred   to  in  the  pre- 


THE  SOURCES   OF  GOTHIC 


49 


ceding  chapter,  be  also  their  invention.  With  regard  to  this  it 
may  be  said  that  the  date  of  the  vaulting  of  the  Abbaye-aux- 
Dames  at  Caen,  in  connection  with  which  such  a  rudimentary 
flying  buttress  was  constructed,  is  uncertain ;  though  it  was 
apparently  posterior  to  that  of  the  Abbaye-aux-Hommes,  in  the 
construction  of  which  a  half-barrel  vault  had  been  used.^     We 


Fio.  15.  —  System  of  the  Abbaye-aux-Hommes. 

shall  see,  however,  in  the  next  chapter,  that  a  similar  form  of 
flying  buttress  occurs  in  the  transitional  church  of  St.  Germer 
in  the  Ile-de-France,  which  may  be  of  earlier  date ;  and,  since 
the  Norman  architects  in  general  showed  little  structural  inven- 
tiveness, it  is  not  improbable  that  the  idea  carried  out  in  the 
buttress  system  of  the  Abbayc-aux-Dames  was  derived  from  the 
examples  of  the  fertile  designers  of  the  Ile-de-France. 

^  Cf.  V.  Ruprich-Robert,  L'J^glise  Sie.   Trinite  et  V J^glist  St.  I^tienne  a   Caen, 
Caen,  1864,  p.  37. 
E 


so  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

The  architectural  activity  of  the  Ile-de-France  during  the 
eleventh  century  appears  to  have  been  less  vigorous  than  that 
of  Normandy.  Many  buildings  were,  indeed,  erected  in  this 
province  at  this  time ;  but  they  were  generally  of  moderate,  and 
often  small,  dimensions  and  of  simple  design.  The  naves  were 
hardly  ever  vaulted,  and  even  over  the  aisles  vaulting  seems  to 
have  been  rare  until  the  latter  part  of  the  century.^  Of  the 
more  primitive  type  of  this  region  the  Church  of  Rhuis  (Oise)  is 
a  good  example,  which  retains,  for  the  most  part,  its  original 
character.  In  this  church  only  the  apse  and  the  easternmost 
bay  of  each  aisle  are  vaulted.  The  plain  rectangular  piers 
carry  arches  of  a  single  order  without  mouldings,  and  the  walls 
above  are  broken  only  by  small  clerestory  windows.  Of  the 
two  groined  vaults  of  the  aisle  compartments  now  extant  but 
one  dates  from  the  time  of  the  original  construction,  and  this  is 
of  the  Roman  form.  In  buildings  of  a  more  advanced  character, 
the  archivolts  of  the  great  arcades  are  doubled,  and  the  sub- 
order has  a  separate  support  incorporated  with  the  rectangular 
pier  —  as  in  the  Church  of  Aulchy-le-Chateau  (Ainse).^ 

In  the  still  more  developed  Romanesque  of  the  Ile-de- 
France,  the  aisles  are  entirely  covered  with  groined  vaults,  the 
piers  are  furnished  with  subordinate  shafts,  the  archivolts  are 
doubled,  and  the  nave,  though  still  having  only  a  timber  roof, 
is  divided  into  bays  by  engaged  shafts  and  pilasters.  The 
nave  of  Morienval  (Oise),  dating  from  the  second  half  of  the 
eleventh  century,  and  the  much  disfigured  nave  of  St.  Germain- 
des-Pres  of  Paris,  in  their  unaltered  portions,  illustrate  this  type. 
In  the  vaulted  aisles  of  Morienval  the  system  is  perfectly 
organic  so  far  as  it  goes  ;  but  since  it  has  no  groin  ribs,  it  is 
comparatively  simple.  In  this  system  the  compartments  are 
oblong,  and  the  vaults,  which  have  been  reconstructed,  but 
apparently  retain  their  primitive  form,  are  domical.  Heavy 
transverse  ribs  divide  the  compartments  one  from  another,  and 
the  pier  has  four  wide  pilasters  with  an  engaged  shaft  on 
each  (Fig.  i6). 

After  this  time  structural  progress  in  the  Ile-de-France 
became  more  rapid  than  it  had  been  before  here  or  elsewhere  ; 
so  that  the  final  development  of  the  organic   Romanesque  was 

'  Cf.  Lefevre-]V)iitalis.  Archilectiue  Religiettse^  etc.,  p.  41  et seq. 
2  Cf.  Lefevre-Pontalis,   Ibid.,  platt  xi. 


II 


THE  SOURCES   OF  GOTHIC 


51 


reached  here  by  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century.  This 
final  condition  may  be  studied  in  the  Church  of  St.  Etienne  of 
Beauvais.     Of  the  primitive   edifice  portions  only  of  the  nave 


Fig.  16. —  Moricnval. 


(Fig.  45,  p.  105)  remain,  and  although  this  nave  was  several 
times  remodelled  in  parts  during  the  twelfth  century,  the  charac- 
ter of  the  original  design  is  clearly  traceable.  This  is  most  for- 
tunate, since  St.  Etienne  is,  with,  I  believe,  only  one  exception, — 
that  of  St.  Louis  of  Poissy,  —  the  only  Romanesque  structure 


52  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

extant  on  the  soil  of  France  that  was  unmistakably  designed  for 
ribbed  groined  vaulting  over  both  nave  and  aisles.  The  system 
is  uniform,  and  the  vault  compartments  are  oblong  in  both  nave 
and  aisles,  measuring  in  the  nave  5.75  x  9  metres  from  centre 
to  centre  of  the  piers,  and  in  the  aisles  4.45  x  5.75  metres. 
The  easternmost  bay  of  the  nave  is  of  the  primitive  construc- 
tion up  to  the  clerestory  level,  while  the  piers  throughout, 
together  with  the  lower  archivolts,  also  retain  their  original 
form,  though  they  have  been  repaired  in  parts.  The  original 
vaulting  of  the  nave  must  have  been  destroyed  during  the 
twelfth  century,  while  the  existing  vaults  (of  fine  early  Gothic 
character)  were  apparently  constructed  after  a  fire  from  which 
the  building  suffered  in  the  year  1180.^  We  are  not,  however, 
left  in  doubt  concerning  the  character  of  the  original  vaulting; 
for  the  composition  of  the  piers  and  the  existing  vaulting  of 
the  aisles  show  plainly  what  it  must  have  been.  Each  pier  has  a 
pilaster  with  a  central  engaged  shaft  on  its  face,  and  a  smaller 
shaft  on  either  side.  These  members  rise  from  the  pavement, 
and  that  they  belong  to  the  original  design  is  shown  by  the  homo- 
geneous character  of  the  bases  on  which  they  rest,  and  to  which 
they  are  perfectly  adju&ted,  and  by  their  correspondence  with 
the  unaltered  work  on  the  aisle  side.  It  is  further  shown  by 
the  high  vaulting  capitals  {a,  Fig.  45,  p.  105),  still  in  place,  in  the 
unaltered  eastern  bay.  These  capitals  are  like  those  of  the 
primitive  aisle  vaulting,  and  are  of  a  less  advanced  type  than 
those  which  belong  to  the  early  remodelled  portions  of  the 
edifice.  That  the  small  shaft  on  either  side  of  the  pilaster 
was  designed  to  carry  a  groin  rib,  is  made  clear  by  the  fact 
that  its  capital  is  set  diagonally  in  conformity  with  the  direction 
of  such  a  rib. 

Thus  we  have  in  St.  Etienne  of  Beauvais,  applied  to  a 
uniform  vaulting  system,  the  completest  carrying  out  of  the 
Lombard  idea  that  had  yet  been  reached  in  Northern  Europe, 
and  one  in  which  all  the  forms  are  greatly  improved  and  even 
reach  some  degree  of  elegance.  It  seems  probable  that  the 
original  vaulting  of  the  nave  had  no  longitudinal  rib.  Such 
a  rib  seems  hardly  to  have  been  used  anywhere  in  the  North 


1  Cf.  "  Beauvais  et  ses  monuments  pendant  I'ere  Gallo-Romaine  et  sous  la  Domi- 
nation Franque.     Par  I'abbe  Berraud."     Bulletin  Monumental,  vol.  27. 


II  THE  SOURCES   OF  GOTHIC  53 

SO  early  as  this/  and  the  pier  includes  no  member  for  its  sup- 
port. It  was,  however,  introduced  soon  afterwards,  and  its  use 
became  general  before  the  second  quarter  of  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury. In  the  absence  of  the  original  high  vaulting,  we  must 
confine  our  further  examination  of  the  system  of  St.  Etienne 
to  those  compartments  of  the  vaulted  aisles  in  which  the  primi- 
tive structure  remains  intact.  In  order  to  appreciate  the  ad- 
vance here  made,  it  may  be  well  to  compare  the  aisle  system 
with  that  of  the  earlier  nave  of  Morienval.  In  Morienval 
(Fig.  16),  the  groin  a  of  the  vault,  having  no  rib,  rises  from  the 
pilaster  b.  The  transverse  rib  c  rests  on  the  shaft  d,  which 
is  incorporated  with  the  pilaster ;  while  the  two  parts  of  the 
double  archivolt  e  are  supported  respectively  by  a  lateral 
pilaster  and  an  engaged  shaft.  To  avoid  excessive  doming  in 
the  vault,  the  transverse  rib  is  slightly  stilted,  and  its  supporting 
shaft  is  lengthened  so  as  to  bring  the  impost  above  that  of  the 
main  archivolts.  In  St.  Etienne  (Fig.  17)  the  presence  of  the 
groin  rib  calls  into  requisition  the  additional  shaft  a  in  the  com- 
pound pier.  The  elevation  of  the  crown  of  the  transverse  rib 
is  effected,  in  this  case,  wholly  by  stilting,  hence  the  capitals 
of  the  system  are  all  on  the  same  level,  and  the  shafts  are  all  of 
the  same  length.  The  groin  rib  is  here  of  a  primitive  type, 
being  heavy,  and  of  rectangular  section  with  bevelled  edges. 
The  capitals  and  bases  of  the  shafts  that  sustain  the  groins 
are,  as  in  the  nave,  set  diagonally  so  as  to  conform  with  the 
directions  of  those  ribs  —  an  adjustment  of  which  the  example 
had  been  set  in  the  Lombard  structures.  The  remaining 
compartments  of  the  aisles  of  St.  Etienne  have  the  same 
general  character,  except  that  their  groin  ribs  are  lighter,  and 
have  a  round  instead  of  a  rectangular  section,  while  the  capi- 
tals are  of  a  slightly  more  advanced  design.  These  last  aisle 
compartments  are  thus  apparently  a  little  later  in  date.  A 
pause  in  the  works  may  have  occurred  after  the  easternmost 
bays  were  completed,  or  these  somewhat  later  portions  may 
be  the  result  of  a  very  early  reconstruction.  Other  changes 
wrought  during  the  twelfth  century  in  this  most  interesting 
monument,  being  of  a  Gothic  character,  will  call  for  considera- 
tion in  the  following  chapter. 

1  In   the  nave  of  Vezelay,  however,  a   nearly  contemporaneous   structure,  the 
longitudinal  rib  occurs,  as  we  have  seen,  without  the  groin  rib. 


S4 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


The  primitive  form  and  the  historic  value  of  the  Church 
of  St.  Louis  of  Poissy  have  been  so  far  destroyed  by  remodel- 
lings  and  recent  reconstructions  and  restorations  as  to  render 
a  complete  understanding  of   its  original  character  nearly  im- 


FlG.   17. —  St.  Etienne,  Beauvais. 

possible.  Hence  its  precise  place  among  the  monuments  of 
the  Ile-de-France,  that  were  quickening  with  the  germs  of  the 
Gothic  spirit,  can  hardly  be  determined  with  fulness.  It  seems 
clear,  however,  that,  though  ^subsequent  in  date  to  St.  Etienne 
of    Beauvais,  the  earlier   portions  of   it  were  less  advanced  in 


n  THE  SOURCES   OF  GOTHIC  55 

organic  character.  These  portions  are  confined  to  the  aisles, 
and  the  vaulting  here  has  no  groin  ribs.  Three  bays  of 
vaulting  in  the  nave,  however,  though  largely  reconstructed, 
seem  to  retain  their  original  form.  They  were  probably 
built  immediately  after  those  of  the  aisles,  and  they  are 
furnished  with  groin  ribs.  In  the  easternmost  two  bays 
these  groin  ribs  are  carried  on  shafts  rising  from  the  pave- 
ment, while  in  the  third  bay  they  rest  on  corbels  at  the 
impost  level.  The  transverse  ribs  of  this  vaulting  are  of  two 
orders,  each  one  of  which  has  a  sustaining  shaft  in  the  pier. 
In  the  easternmost  bays,  where  the  groin  ribs  also  have  sup- 
porting shafts,  the  piers  are  composed  of  more  members  than 
occur  in  the  piers  of  St.  Etienne ;  namely,  one  for  the  sub- 
order of  the  transverse  rib,  one  on  either  side  of  this  for  the 
first  order  of  the  same,  and  one  again  on  either  side  for  the 
groin  ribs.  This  makes  the  whole  pier  very  bulky,  and  it  may 
have  been  a  desire  to  reduce  this  bulk  that  led  to  the  use  of 
the  corbels  in  place  of  shafts  as  supports  for  the  groin  ribs 
of  the  westernmost  of  these  three  bays.^  The  small  Church 
of  Bethesy  St.  Pierre,  near  Morienval,  is  also  worthy  of  notice 
as  having  in  its  aisles  domical  groined  vaults  (Fig.  18)  fur- 
nished with  groin  ribs.  The  compartments  of  this  vaulting  are 
nearly  square  in  plan,  and  the  forms  and  adjustments  of  the 
component  arches  are  curious.  In  the  transverse  rib  a,  for 
instance,  the  curve  is  a  segment  of  less  than  half  a  circle, 
while  the  archivolt,  the  wall  arch,  and  the  groins  are  semi- 
circular. This  makes  the  crown  of  the  vault  be,  taken  in 
a  line  parallel  with  the  long  axis,  more  domical  than  need  be. 
Why  the  low,  segmental  curve  in  the  transverse  rib  producing 
this  result  should  have  been  preferred  to  a  semicircular  one 
is  not  clear.  The  designer  seems  to  have  gone  out  of  his 
way  to  make  his  vault  domical.  Taken  in  the  line  of  the 
short  axis,  the  crown  dc  is  rampant,  since  the  archivolt  / 
has  a  shorter  span,  and  hence  a  lower  crown,  than  the  wall 
arch  g.  The  piers  are  of  the  most  primitive  rectangular  type, 
with    two    orders    of    pilasters    on    the    aisle    side,  which,  with 

'  The  character  and  date  of  tlie  Collegiate  Church  of  Poissy  are  discussed  by 
M.  Felix  de  Verneilh  in  his  work,  Le  Premier  des  Afoiittinetits  Gothiques,  Paris, 
1864,  and  by  M.  Anthyme  Saint-Paul  in  "  Viollet-le-Duc  et  son  Systeme  Arche- 
ologique,"  published  in  the  Bulletin  Monumental,   1880-18S1. 


56 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


responds    of   corresponding   form,  sustain   the   transverse    and 
diagonal  ribs. 

Few  other  vaulted  Romanesque  structures  have  survived  in 
the  Ile-de-France.  After  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century, 
the  transition  into  Gothic  was  here  so  rapidly  accomplished 
that  the  larger  structures  of  the  early  decades  of  this  century 
cannot  be  classed  as  Romanesque.      Our  examination  of   the 


Fig.  i8. 


■Aisle  Vault  of  B^thesy  St.  Pierre. 


S   7tt. 


sources  of  Gothic,  therefore,  ends  here,  while  we  proceed,  in 
the  next  chapter,  to  consider  the  transitional  and  early  Gothic 
developments. 

It  may  here  be  well  to  define  the  sense  in  which  the  term 
transitional,  as  distinguished  from  Romanesque,  on  the  one 
hand,  and  early  Gothic,  on  the  other,  is  used.  Broadly  speak- 
ing, the  organic  Romanesque,  of  all  varieties  and  from  first  to 
last,  is,  as  we  have  seen,  an -architecture  of  transition.  In  a 
more  specific  sense,  what  we  mean  by  the  transitional  architec- 


II  THE  SOURCES  OF  GOTHIC  57 

ture  of  the  Middle  Ages  is  that  in  which  the  pointed  arch,  in 
connection  with  ribbed  vaulting  and  a  functional  memberment 
of  supports,  first  appears.  The  term  transitional,  in  this  sense, 
is  applicable  until  the  concentration  and  counteraction  of  thrusts, 
and  the  consequent  equilibrium  of  the  structure  (latent,  but  un- 
developed, in  the  Romanesque)  are  fully  worked  out,  and  the 
system  stands  forth  in  its  essential  completeness.  The  fullest 
development  of  the  Romanesque,  as  such,  was  reached  in  the 
vaulted  nave  of  St.  Etienne  of  Beauvais.  The  further  innova- 
tions of  the  early  twelfth  century  constitute  the  architecture  of 
transition. 


CHAPTER   III 

GOTHIC  CONSTRUCTION   IN  FRANCE 

I.    The  Beginnings  of  Gothic 

By  France,  in  this  chapter,  and  indeed  throughout  this  book, 
is  meant  the  France  of  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries, 
that  is,  the  Royal  Domain  of  the  Capetian  Dynasty  and  portions 
of  a  few  contiguous  provinces,  chiefly  Champagne,  Orleanais, 
Picardy,  and  Burgundy.  To  this  region  the  early  Gothic  move- 
ment was  confined.  Indeed,  the  region  of  its  earliest  manifes- 
tations was  circumscribed  by  even  narrower  limits,  those,  namely, 
of  the  Ile-de-France,  or  the  area  of  which  the  larger  part  is 
now  included  in  the  departments  of  the  Seine  and  the  Oise. 
Though  many  of  the  monuments  of  the  early  Gothic  art  have 
perished,  many  others  yet  remain,  and  the  beginning  and  course 
of  development  of  the  new  style  may,  by  examination  and  com- 
parison of  these  existing  buildings,  be  made  out  with  substantial 
correctness,  without  reference  to  other  sources  of  information, 
which,  in'  fact,  hardly  exist ;  for  such  written  records  of  build- 
ing as  have  been  preserved  are  wholly  devoid  of  information 
respecting  architectural  forms  and  methods  of  construction. 
We  are  compelled,  therefore,  to  rely  upon  independent  study 
of  the  buildings  themselves. 

We  have  seen  that  the  last  step  in  organic  building  that  can 
be  called  Romanesque  was  reached  in  the  nave  of  St.  Etienne 
of  Beauvais.  Before  further  advance  could  be  made  it  was 
necessary  that  some  better  means  of  diminishing,  of  concen- 
trating, and  of  counteracting  the  thrusts  of  vaulting  should  be 
found.  Such  means  were,  as  before  remarked,  at  length  dis- 
covered in  the  use  of  the  pointed  arch,  together  with  a  new 
adjustment  of  the  ribs  and  a  new  form  of  abutment.  It  has, 
until  recently,  been  commonly  thought  by  continental  writers 
that  the  earliest  extant  instance  of  the  incipient  Gothic  style  is 
found  in  what  remains  of  the  Abbey  Church  of  St.  Denis,  as  it 

5^ 


CHAP.  Ill  GOTHIC  COiXSTRUCTION  hV  FRANCE  59 

was  built  under  the  administration  of  the  Abbot  Suger.  This, 
however,  is  not  the  case  ;  for  not  only  have  we  in  the  much 
earlier  Abbey  Church  of  Morienval  an  instance  which  exhibits, 
though  in  a  halting  manner,  some  of  the  principles  that  are 
carried  out  with  such  remarkable  skill  in  St.  Denis,  but  a  con- 
"siderable  group  of  early  buildings  have  survived  in  which  various 
intermediate  steps  of  progress  may  be  traced.^ 

The  first  step  in  the  final  transformation  of  the  Romanesque 
into  the  Gothic  style  appears  to  have  been  taken  in  the  rudi- 
mentary apsidal  aisle  that  was  added  to  the  Church  of  Morien- 
val at  the  end  of  the  eleventh  or  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth 
century.  The  vaulting  system  of  the  nave  aisles  of  this  inter- 
esting church  has  already  been  described  in  the  preceding 
chapter,  but  the  aisle  we  have  now  to  consider  presents  new 
features  of  great  importance.  It  has  four  compartments  of 
vaulting,  which  are  provided  with  diagonal  ribs,  pointed  archi- 
volts,^  and  imperfectly  pointed  transverse  arches.  Of  these 
transverse  arches,  however,  in  the  compartment  that  I  have 
chosen  for  illustration,  one  has  no  rib,  while  the  other  has  a 
much  stilted  and  very  heavy  round  one.    The  diagram  (Fig.  19) 


1  Some  of  these  buildings  were  faithfully  described  long  ago  by  M.  Woillez 
{Archeologie  des  Monuments  Religieux  de  rAncien  Beauvais,  etc.  Par  le  Dr.  Eug. 
J.  Woillez.  Paris,  1839- 1849),  ^^'^  their  dates,  relationships,  and  structural  principles 
were  little  understood  at  that  time;  and  little  attention  of  a  fruitful  kind  was  drawn 
to  them  by  the  admirable  work  of  M.  Woillez.  More  recently  these,  and  many  other 
buildings  of  like  character,  have  been  made  the  subject  of  careful  examination  and 
comparison  by  a  highly  competent  writer  on  mediaeval  monuments,  M.  Eug.  Lefevre- 
Pontalis,  whose  admirable  work,  already  referred  to  (p.  46,  note),  is  all  that  can  be  de- 
sired in  the  way  of  clear  and  accurate  description.  But  the  illustrations  to  this  work, 
though  admirable  as  far  as  they  go,  leave,  in  common  with  most  books  which  aim 
to  describe  buildings,  much  to  be  desired,  since  they  do  not  completely  exhibit 
the  structure  of  each  monument  represented,  which  can  be  done  only  by  giving  in 
each  case  at  least  three  projections,  —  plan,  cross-section,  and  longitudinal  section. 

2  Three  of  these  archivolts  are  pointed  and  one  is  round.  The  report  of  the 
Congres  Archhlogique  de  France  for  the  year  1877  thus  alludes  to  this  apse:  "Nous 
voudrions  aussi  degager  de  I'epoque  ogival  certains  eglises  011,  malgre  I'ogive  et  meme 
la  nervure,  on  trouve  dans  les  moulures,  dans  les  colonnes  ou  dans  quelques  disposi- 
tions generales,  des  formes  qui  rappellent  par  trop  encore  soit  le  XI*  siecle,  soit  les 
premiers  rudiments  de  la  transition.  Le  chceur  de  I'eglise  de  Morienval  merite  ^  cet 
egard  d'etre  cite  tout  le  premier :  la  nervure  et  I'ogive  avaient  ete  fort  peu  prati- 
quees  lorsqu'il  fut  construit,  et  peut-etre,  ou  plutot  selon  tout  probabilite,  c'est  1^  que 
les  habitants  du  Valois  virent  pour  la  premiere  fois  ces  germes  feconds  d'un  nouvel 
art  de  batir." 


6o 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


illustrates  the  form  and  the  structural  members  of  .this  vault,^ 
which  is  marked  a  on  the  reduced  plan  of  the  apse  given  at  A. 
It  will  be  seen  that  the  narrow  archivolt  a  in  the  plan  B,  whose 
elevation  is  given  at  a! ,  is  pointed  in  order  to  bring  its  crown  up 
to  nearly  the  same  level  as  that  of  the  wider-spanned  round  arch 
b,  whose  elevation  is  given  at  ^ ;  and  that  the  transverse  arch  c, 
situated  at  b  in  the  plan  A,  is  more  acutely  pointed  for  the  same 
reason  ;    while  the  transverse  arch  d  assumes  the  form  of  an 


irregular  ellipse.  That  structural  exigencies  alone  led  to  the  use 
of  the  pointed  arch  there  can  thus  hardly  be  a  doubt,  and  this  is 
further  manifest  from  the  distorted  shapes  of  the  arches  c  and  d. 
These  distortions  clearly  result  from  the  position  and  the  form 
of  the  longitudinal  ridge  of  the  vault.  This  ridge  has  to  pass 
through  the  point  of  intersection  of  the  diagonals,  and  to  follow 
the  curve  of  the  apse.  The  point  of  intersection  is  not  midway 
between  the  inner  and  outer  sides  of  the  compartment,  but  is, 

^  I  am  indebted  for  this  diagram  to  Mr.  G.  F.  Newton,  who  kindly  took  the  pains 
to  go  for  me  from  Paris  to  Morienval,  and  secure  the  data  which  my  own  notes  had 
not  fully  included. 


Ill  GOTHIC   CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE  6i 

as  shown  in  the  diagram,  considerably  to  one  side  of  the  centre ; 
and  thus  the  crowns  of  the  end  arches,  which  are  necessarily 
in  the  line  of  the  ridge,  are  brought  to  one  side  rather  than  over 
the  centres  of  their  bases.  The  curved  form  given  in  plan  to 
the  diagonal  ribs  seems  to  show  an  effort  to  avoid  the  extreme 
one-sided  position  of  the  longitudinal  ridge  which  would  have 
resulted  had  they  been  straight.  The  natural  way  to  construct 
such  ribs  would  be  in  planes  giving  straight  lines  on  the  plan ; 
but  this  would  have  made  the  inequality  of  magnitude  in  the 
transverse  cells  e  and  /,  great  even  now,  much  greater  than  it 
is.  The  builders  wished  to  diminish  this  inequality  as  much 
as  possible,  and  hence,  apparently,  they  curved  the  diagonals  as 
much  as  they  dared ;  but,  since  the  curved  plan  renders  them 
more  difficult  to  construct,  and  less  secure  when  completed, 
they  did  not  dare  to  curve  them  much.  We  shall  meet  with 
this  curved  diagonal  rib  in  other  early  apsidal  vaults,  for  the 
builders  did  not  yet  see  that,  on  the  new  principles  which  they 
were  developing,  the  intersection  of  the  groins  could  be  placed 
in  the  centre  of  the  vault  without  curving  them.  More  expe- 
rience soon  enabled  them  to  increase  the  curve  so  as  to  bring 
the  intersection  nearer  this  centre,  until,  at  length,  after  a 
variety  of  adjustments  of  curved  diagonals  the  final  Gothic 
form,  in  which  the  curve  disappears,  was  reached.^ 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  inner  branch  of  the  heavy  trans- 
verse rib  has  to  penetrate  the  wall  at  the  impost  in  order  to 
rest  on  the  column  that  supports  the  main  archivolts.  This, 
of  course,  carries  its  crown  inward  beyond  the  axis  of  the  vault, 
a  circumstance  which  may  have  had  some  influence  in  causing 
the  one-sided  position  of  the  longitudinal  ridge.  That  is  to 
say,  it  may  have  been  from  this  cause,  rather  than  from  caution 
against  excessive  curvature  in  the  diagonal  ribs,  that  the  ridge 
was  brought  so  far  to  one  side.  But  this  ridge  is  not  placed 
so  far  inward  as  the  transverse  rib  would  naturally  carry  it; 
and  a  curious  evidence  of  effort  -to  reduce  to  a  minimum  the  dis- 
tortions that  necessarily  result  from  the  fact  that  the  crown  of 
the  transverse  rib  is  not  in  a  line  passing  through  the  inter- 

1  It  is  possible  that  the  idea  of  the  curved  groin  in  this  early  ribbed  vaulting  of 
apsidal  aisles  was  partly  derived  from  the  groins  of  annular  groined  vaults  without 
ribs,  like  those  of  Clermont-Ferrand,  where  the  curve  necessarily  results  from  the 
forms  of  the  interpenetrating  surfaces. 


62  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTL^RE  chap. 

section  of  the  diagonals,  and  concentric  with  the  axis  of  the 
aisle,  is  shown  in  the  adjustment  of  the  arch  of  the  vault  to 
this  rib.  Had  the  crown  of  the  vault  surface  been  made  to  coin- 
cide with  the  crown  of  the  extrados  of  the  rib,  it  would  have 
carried  the  longitudinal  ridge  still  further  inward  than  it  actu- 
ally is,  or  else  it  would  have  broken  the  line  of  the  ridge  in 
a  very  awkward  manner.  This  result  was  avoided  by  allowing 
the  rib  to  be  embedded  at  the  crown,  while  the  ridge  of  the  vault 
is  kept  in  the  line  passing  through  the  intersection  of  the  diago- 
nals. These  awkward  forms,  especially  that  of  the  end  arch  c, 
are  so  plainly  the  result  of  a  groping  struggle  with  the  diffi- 
culties of  vaulting  a  curved  oblong  area,  that  they  seem  to  show 
beyond  question  that  the  pointed  arch  was  not  introduced  from 
esthetic  preference,  but  that  it  was  naturally  evolved  in  the 
course  of  constructive  experiment.  When  the  idea  of  its  utility 
was  fully  grasped,  means  of  avoiding  unsightly  distortions  were 
soon  found,  and  its  value  from  an  artistic  point  of  view  was 
promptly  recognized. 

The  interest  of  the  vault  of  Morienval  lies  chiefly  in  this  e.x- 
pcrimental  embodiment  of  new  principles  as  yet  imperfectly 
apprehended.  The  idea  of  the  structural  use  of  the  pointed  arch, 
in  connection  with  an  independent  system  of  ribs  as  a  frame- 
work for  vaulting,  was  here  taking  form  in  the  minds  of  the 
builders.  Incomplete  and  awkward  as  is  the  system  thus 
tentatively  worked  out,  we  have  in  this  monument  a  type  of 
vault  construction  such  as  had  been  before  unknown ;  a  type 
that  already  contains  some  of  the  most  important  principles  of 
fiothic  vaulting  The  apse  of  Morienval  may  therefore  be 
regarded  as  the  first  step  known  to  us  in  the  distinctly  Gothic 
development  of  France.  The  full  value,  and  far-reaching  con- 
sequences, of  what  was  here  rudely  accomplished  were  not  at 
once  recognized,  but  everything  was  sure  in  time  to  follow 
after  such  a  beginning.  Figure  20  '  gives  a  perspective  view  of 
this  vault  as  seen  from  within  the  choir. 

The  initiative  of  Morienval  seems  not  to  have  been  immedi- 
ately followed  to  any  considerable  extent ;  and  of  other  extant 
buildings  nearly  contemijorancfnis  with  its  apse,  only  a  few  can  be 
regarded  as  constituting  links  in  the  chain  of  structural  progress. 

'  I'i^jurc  20  i*  from  a  photoKraph  kindly  furnished  mc  by  M.  C.  Knlart  of  the 
Ktoir  dc*  <  harl(<i,  Pari* 


m 


GOTHIC  COXSTRUCTIOX  IX  FRAXIE 


63 


TTie  aisle  vaulting  of  tiie  neighbouring  Cinirch  of  Bexhesy  Si. 

Pierre,  for  instance,  which  was  constructed  apparentlv  2t  aiwint 
the  same  epKDch,  is,  as  we  have  already  seen  (p.  551.  Ro-naneso-e 
rather  than  transitional  G-^thiv.  For  while  the  prolong  of  the 
vault  ribs  is  of  a  slightly  more  ad\-anced  character,  no  innova- 


Flu.  3CX  —  Apsida.;  A;s.'e  of  MorienvaL 

tions  on  Romanesque  principles  of  vaulting  occur.  The  ^ime 
may  be  said  of  the  diminutive  Church  of  Noel  St.  M.irtin,  near 
Villeneuve-sur-VerK^rie  (OiseV  The  vaulting  in  this  cise, 
however,  has  one  feature  worthy  of  notice  th.it  docs  not  apix^ar 
in  either  Morienval  or  Bethesy,  namely,  the  longitudinal  rib. 
This  member  (which  exists,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  Lombard 
vaulting  of  St.  Ambrogio  of  Mikm)  does  not  occur  in  any  other 


64  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap 

of  the  French  constructions  thus  far  considered.  The  portior 
of  this  interesting  monument  which  here  concerns  us  is  the  easi 
end  only,  —  which  is"  covered  with  a  single  quadripartite  vault 
on  an  oblong  plan.  The  arches  of  this  vault  are  all  round  ex- 
cept the  one  on  the  western  side  of  the  compartment  —  which 
appears  to  be  an  alteration  of  a  later  epoch,  and  belongs  to  the 
developed  Gothic  vault  which  covers  the  area  over  the  crossing 
of  the  nave  and  transept.  There  is  hence  nothing  here  of  a 
transitional  character,  though,  together  with  Bethisy,  it  haj 
been  recently  cited  by  so  high  an  authority  as  M.  Louis  Gonse- 
among  other  supposed  transitional  buildings. 

Among  the  truly  transitional  buildings  nearest  in  date  tc 
Morienval,  the  first  in  importance  is,  perhaps,  the  nave  of  the 
village  church  of  Bury,  near  Creil  (Oise).  We  have  in  Bury  a 
more  systematic  use  of  the  pointed  arch,  which  exhibits  progress, 
while,  at  the  same  time,  the  signs  of  inexperience  and  uncer- 
tainty are  still  apparent.^  The  system  is  uniform  with  quadri- 
partite vaulting,  the  compartments  of  the  nave  being  square,  or 
nearly  so,  while  those  of  the  aisles  are  necessarily  of  oblong 
rectangular  form.  The  aisle  vaults  are  especially  noteworthy. 
Their  arches  are  all  pointed,  and  all  except  the  wall  arch  are 
provided  with  ribs.  The  transverse  ribs  are  excessively  heavy 
and  resemble  those  of  Morienval,  though  a  shallow  gorge, 
instead  of  a  bevel,  is  worked  on  their  edges.  The  oblong 
form  of  the  compartment  gives  great  inequality  in  the  spans  of 
the  arches,  but  the  ends  of  the  cells  of  the  vault,  which  would 
naturally  under  such  conditions  differ  greatly  in  altitude,  are 
brought  to  a  common  level  in  a  curious  manner.  The  end  of  the 
further  cell  (Figs.  21  and  22)  does  not  follow  the  extrados  of 
the  transverse  rib,  which  is  here  also  an  archivolt  of  the  tran- 
sept, but  its  crown  is  raised  considerably  higher,  giving  a  lancet 
form,  and  leaving  a  portion  of  the  transept  wall  over  the  rib 
exposed  to  view  ;  while  the  nearer  transverse  rib  (whose  extrados 
is  oddly  rounded  off  at  the  top)  is  much  stilted  and  loaded  with 
vertical   masonry    composed   of  rudely  cut   voussoirs.      In   this 

'  L\lrt  Gothiqiie.     Paris,  1890. 

2  The  date  of  Bury  is  thought  by  M.  Lefevre-Pontalis  ("  Etude  sur  la  date  de 
PPIglise  de  Saint-Germer,"  Bihliotheijtie  de  V P.cole  des  Charles,  vol.  xlvi.)  to  be 
certainly  posterior  to  1125.  It  can  hardly,  however,  be  much  later  than  this;  for  the 
longitudinal  rib  is  still  wanting  in  its  vaulting,  and  the  profiling  and  execution  are  of 
a  very  primitive  character. 


GOTHIC  CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE 


65 


-ough  way  the  crowns  of  the  narrow  arches  are  brought  to  nearly 
:he  same  level  that  is  reached  by  those  which  span  the  longer 
>ides  of  the  vault.^ 

The  rounding  off  of  the  crown  of  the  arch  of  the  vault  itself, 
I  repetition  of  the  form  given  to  the  crown  of  the  arch  of  the 
larrow  cell  of  Morienval,  looks  like  a  survival  of  the  Roman- 


Fio.  21. 

^  In  the  first  edition  of  this  book  it  was  mistakenly  affirmed  that  early  Gothic 
■aults  are  always  much  domed  because  the  groin  arches  naturally  reach  to  a  higher 
evel  than  the  other  arches  of  the  vault.  This  has  been  generally  maintained,  and 
;ven  so  trustworthy  a  writer  as  M.  Lefevre-Pontalis  makes,  in  his  recent  admirable 
vork,  L^ Architecture  Religiense,  etc.,  p.  106,  the  following  statement :  "  Pendant 
juelque  temps  encore  la  clef  des  doubleaux  fut  toujours  placee  beaucoup  plus  has 
]ue  celle  de  la  croisee  d'ogives."  Not  only,  however,  have  the  aisle  vaults  of  Bury 
he  form  described  in  the  text,  but  even  in  Morienval  the  side  arches  are  but  slightly 
ower  than  those  of  the  groins,  while  in  the  choir  of  St.  Germer,  as  we  shall  presently 
ee,  the  crowns  of  all  the  vaulting  arches  are  on  about  the  same  level;  and  it  would 
)e  easy  to  cite  many  other  instances  of  the  same  form  of  vault  in  buildings  of  this 
:poch.  But  while  this  is  often  the  case,  it  is  also  true  that  the  vault  surfaces  are 
nvariably  arched  more  or  less  from  rib  to  rib,  and  their  ridges  are  never  quite  level. 
F 


66 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


esque  habit  ^  —  as  if  the  builders  could  not  readily  bring  them- 
selves to  accept  the  perfectly  pointed  form.  The  extrados  of 
the  great  archivolt,  being  of  two  orders,  rises  above  the  level 
of  the  intersection  of  the  diagonals,  the  same  altitude  is  given  to 
the  arch  against  the  wall,  and  hence  the  ridges  of  the  cross-cells 


Fig.  22.  —  Burv,  Vaulting  of  the  Aisle. 


1  Another,  and  apparently  much  earlier,  instance  of  the  same  treatment  of  the 
narrow  cell  of  an  oblong  vault  occurs  in  the  Romanesque  Church  of  Chatel-Ccnsoir 
(Yonne)  figured  by  M.  flnlart  in  his  instructive  pamphlet  entitled  Notes  sur  les 
Sculptures  executies  aprl-s  la  pose  dti  XI'  an  XIII'  Steele.  Paris,  1895.  The 
vaulting  here  has  no  groin  ribs,  and  the  general  character  of  the  work  is  that  of  the 
eleventh  century.  If  this  vault  be  a  part  of  the  original  construction,  it  affords  an 
instance  of  the  approximation  to  the  form^  of  the  pointed  arch  antedating  that  of 
Morienval. 


GOTHIC  CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE 


67 


rise  from  the  centre  of  the  vault  to  the  crowns  of  the  archivolt 
and  longitudinal  wall  arch  respectively,  instead  of  descending 
from  the  centre  as  they  generally  do.  Though  the  longitudinal 
rib  is  still  lacking,  and  the  whole  construction  shows  inexperi- 


FlG.  23.  —  Bury,  Vaulting  of  the  Nave. 

ence,  this  vault  marks  an  advance  on  Morienval.  In  the  nave 
(Fig.  23)  we  have  the  general  scheme  of  St.  Etienne  of  Beauvais 
repeated  with  pointed  arches  in  the  vaulting  —  even  the  groin 
ribs   being    pointed.^     This   is  apparently   one  of   the  earliest 

1  The  groin  ribs,  as  well  as  the  transverse  ribs,  are  not  seldom  pointed  in  very 
early,  as  well  as  in  later,  Gothic  vaults. 


68  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

extant  vaulted  naves  of  transitional  character.  The  great  tran- 
sept arch  of  two  orders,  like  the  corresponding  arch  in  the  aisle 
vault,  is  not  stilted,  but  its  crown  is  built  up  by  superimposed 
masonry,  laid  in  the  manner  of  voussoirs,  and  tapered  off  to 
nothing  on  the  haunches,  to  a  more  pointed  form  with  which 
the  surface  of  the  vault  conforms ;  while  the  nearer  transverse 
rib  is  stilted,  and  the  vaulting  here  is  fitted  accurately  to  its 
extrados.  The  longitudinal  rib  is  again  omitted,  and  the  form 
of  the  vault  differs  only  in  its  pointed  arches  from  the  Roman- 
esque vault.  This  constitutes,  indeed,  a  considerable  difference, 
but  other  important  changes  were  yet  to  be  made  before  the 
distinctively  Gothic  form  of  nave  vaulting  could  be  produced. 
The  pointed  arches  here,  however,  greatly  diminish  the  thrusts 
and  give  a  new  expression  to  the  whole  interior.^  The  nearly 
contemporaneous  Church  of  Cambronne  affords  another  in- 
stance of  a  transitional  vaulted  nave.  It  does  not,  however, 
much  differ  in  essential  points  from  Bury,  though  its  piers  are 
more  simple  in  composition,  having  no  pilaster  incorporated 
with  the  vaulting  shafts.  Another  construction  of  this  epoch 
in  which  the  vaulting  closely  resembles  that  of  the  nave  of 
Bury  is  the  gallery  over  the  porch  of  the  neighbouring  Church 
of  St.  Leu  d'Esserent.  Here  the  transverse  ribs,  of  two 
heavy  orders,  are  loaded  as  in  the  aisle  of  Bury,  to  raise  the 
surface  of  the  vault  and  give  it  a  more  acutely  pointed  form. 
The  masonry  of  the  load  is  roughly  laid  with  irregularly  inclined 
beds,  as  shown  in  Fig.  24.  These  vaults  are  very  irregular  in 
form,  but  this  irregularity  is  apparently  not  yet  governed  by 
any  principle;  it  is  the  result,  rather,  of  inexperienced  work- 
manship. In  one  cell  a  sharply  pointed  arch  is  traced  by  the 
vault  against  the  enclosing  wall,  while  in  another  the  form  of 
the  arch  so  traced  is  nearly  segmental.  A  more  advanced  in- 
stance of  vaulting  occurs  in  the  small  Church  of  Berzy-le-Sec 
(Ainse)  near  Soissons.  A  nearly  square  vault  adjoining  the 
half-domed  apse  of  this  church  has  a  full  system  of  ribs  — 
transverse,  diagonal,  and  longitudinal.  The  transverse  and 
longitudinal  ribs  are  pointed,  but  not  enough  so  to  raise  their 

1  M.  Lefevre-Pontalis  (yU Architecture  Religieuse,  etc.  p.  204)  thinks  that  the  nave 
vaulting  of  Bury  was  added  apres  coup.  If  this  be  so,  it  matters  little;  for  if  not  as 
early  in  actual  construction  as  the  rest  of  the  system  to  which  it  is  adjusted,  it  is  mani- 
festly as  early  in  idea. 


Ill 


GOTHIC  CONSTRUCTION-  IN  FRANCE 


69 


crowns  to  the  lev^el  of  the  intersection  of  the  diagonals,  and 
hence,  as  there  is  no  stilting,  the  vault  is  very  domical  in  form. 
The  presence  of  the  longitudinal  rib,  together  with  a  consider- 
able degree  of  skill  and  precision  of  workmanship,  seems  to  mark 
this  construction  as  posterior  to  the  others  thus  far  noticed,  and 
we  may  regard  it  as  illustrating  a  slightly  more  advanced  stage 
of  progress.     That  it  is  subsequent  to  Bury,  yet  not  far  removed 


Fig.  24. —  St.  Leu  d'Esserent. 

from  it  in  date,  would  appear  from  the  character  of  its  profiling, 
as  well  as  from  its  greater  mechanical  perfection.^  Still  an- 
other of  the  small  monuments  quick  with  the  germs  of  Gothic 
life  that  belong  to  the  early  decades  of  the  twelfth  century  is 
the  curious    and    puzzling   choir  of    St.-Martin-des-Champs  in 


^  I  do  not  profess  to  establish  the  chronological  order  of  these  very  early  buildings 
with  any  absolute  sureness.  The  precise  order  is  very  uncertain;  but  while  it  is  so, 
an  illustration  of  the  general  progress  of  Gothic  development  may  be  none  the  less 
correctly  gathered  from  them. 


70  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

Paris.^  It  exhibits,  together  with  very  primitive  groin  vaults, 
separated  by  heavy  transverse  ribs,  in  the  aisles,  a  celled  apsidal 
vault  on  ribs  which  may  very  possibly  be  the  earliest  rudimen- 
tary instance  of  that  form  of  apsidal  vaulting  which  ultimately 
became  one  of  the  most  magnificent  features  of  Gothic  design. 
Prior  to  this  the  apse  had  hardly  been  covered  in  other  than 
the  ancient  manner — that  is,  with  a  half-dome.  At  Berzy-le- 
Sec,  before  mentioned  (p.  68),  this  half-dome  has  two  salient  ribs 
converging  on  the  crown  of  the  transverse  rib  of  the  adjoining 
rectangular  vault.  These  ribs  have  no  necessary  structural 
function,  and  their  presence  seems  inexplicable  unless  it  may  be 
supposed  that  they  were  introduced  in  order  to  harmonize  the 
half-dome  with  the  ribbed  groined  vault  of  the  rectangular  com- 
partment. But  here  in  St.-Martin-des-Champs  they  were  used 
structurally  to  divide  the  apsidal  vault  into  the  three  gore- 
shaped  cells  (Fig.  25).  These  cells  have  rounded  sections,  are 
but  slightly  developed,  and  their  crowns  fall  away  from  the 
centre  of  the  vault  almost  as  steeply  as  the  surface  of  a  half- 
dome  ;  but  they  constitute  a  new  departure  and  lead  to  a  rapid 
transformation  of  apsidal  vaulting.  Doubtless  others  of  the 
many  small  churches  that  are  still  numerous  in  the  provincial 
towns  and  small  villages  of  the  Ile-de-France  may  be  found  to 
show  progressive  features  akin  to  those  already  noticed ;  but 
hardly  any  further  advance  of  importance  can  be  looked  for  in 
buildings  on  a  small  scale. 

The  earliest  extant  building  in  which  the  new  system  is 
considerably  developed  appears  to  be  the  Abbey  Church  of  St.- 
Germer-de-Fly,  near  Beauvais.  This  remarkable  church,  which 
is  exceptionally  harmonious  in  style  throughout,  having  been 
entirely  constructed  during  the  twelfth  century  and  very  little 
altered,  remains  to-day  substantially  intact.  It  is  a  church  of 
considerable  magnitude,  and  its  erection  evidently  called  forth 
the  best  artistic  capacity,  constructive  ingenuity,  and  mechani- 
cal skill,  of  a  time  when,  with  enlarging  resources,  the  creative 
imagination  was  stimulated  by  a  growing  recognition  of  the 
possibilities  of  the  new  principles,  and  by  an  eagerness  to  pro- 
duce enduring  monuments  worthy  of  the  beliefs  and  aspirations 

1  For  a  full  account  of  this  apse  see  the  "  Etude  sur  le  Chceur  de  I'Eglise  de  St.- 
Martin-des-Champs  \  Paris,"  by  M.  Lefevre-Pontalis.  Bihliotheque  de  P Ecole  des 
Charles,  vol.  xlvii. 


Ill 


GOTHIC  CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE 


71 


of  the  builders.  A  comparison  of  this  work  with  that  of 
other  buildings  of  the  same  region  dating  from  the  first  half 
of  the  twelfth  century  seems  to  justify  the  belief  that  the  east 
end  of  it  was  erected  not  much  later  than  the  year  1130.^  We 
may  begin  our  examination  of  this  most  instructive  monument 
with  what  is  certainly  the  earliest  part  of  it, — the  vaulting 
of  the  apsidal  aisle.     Here  we    find  a  great  advance  on  the 


Fig.  25.  —  Apse  of  St.  Maitin-des-Champs. 

apsidal  aisle  of  Morienval.  The  scale  of  the  work  is  much 
larger,  and  the  marks  of  groping  experiment  and  executive 
awkwardness,  so  conspicuous  in  Morienval,  are  but  slightly 
apparent.  The  vault  and  its  supporting  members  exhibit  a  sur- 
prising degree  of  constructive  knowledge  and  of  mechanical 
skill  in  the  us(?  of  new  forms,  as  well  as  power  in  beautiful 

^  M.  Eug.  Lefevre-Pontalis,  "  Etude  sur  la  Date  del'  Eglise  de  Saint-Germer,"  Bib- 
liot/ieque  de  V Ecole  des  Charles,  vol.  xlvi.  p.  492,  says :  "  Nous  croyons  pouvoir 
fixer  I'epoch  de  sa  construction  d'une  maniere  tres  precise  entre  les  annees  1 1 30 
et  1 150."     He  then  produces  evidence  in  favour  of  the  earlier  date. 


72 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


architectural  design.  Was  this  the  first  apsidal  vault  con- 
structed after  that  of  Morienval?  The  question  may  not  be 
answered.  It  would  seem,  however,  that  more  than  one  experi- 
mental structure  must  have  intervened.  It  is  hardly  conceiv- 
able that  a  composition  so  beautiful  and  so  perfect  should  have 
been  produced  without  many  previous  trials ;   but    no  earlier 


St.  Germer-de-Fly. 


vaults  of  the  kind  seem  to  have  survived.  It  therefore  appears 
safe  to  suppose  that  after  Morienval  we  have  in  St.  Germer  the 
oldest  existing  apsidal  aisle  vaulted  on  the  rudimentary  Gothic 
principles.  In  this  vaulting  (Figs.  26  and  27)  we  find  a  complete 
system  of  ribs,  in  which  few  distorted  lines  or  awkward  adjust- 
ments occur,  sustaining  a  slightly  domical  vault  of  elegant  form. 
The  diagonal  ribs  still  follow,  in  plan,  the  curved  lines  that  are 
naturally    produced    by   the   cross-penetrations   of   an    annular 


GOTHIC  CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE 


73 


groined  vault,  though  the  form  here,  as  in  Morienval,  differs 
in  other  respects  from  that  of  a  geometrically  generated  vault 
—  as  will  be  explained  farther  on.  The  intersection  of  the  diag- 
onals is  now  at  or  near  the  centre  of  the  compartment  (a,  Fig. 
26),  the  inner  side  of  the  transverse  rib  is  not  embedded,  as  in 
Morienval,  at  the  impost,  and  each  rib  has  its  own  supporting 
shaft  in  the  compound   piers  and  responds,  except  the   inner 


ililililHimniil 

Fig.  27.  —  Apsidal  Aisle  of  St.  Germer-de-Fly. 

branch  of  the  diagonal  which  rests  on  the  capital  of  the  shaft 
that  carries  the  transverse  rib.  The  small  chapel  which  opens 
out  of  this  bay,  seen  in  the  illustration  (Fig.  27)  to  the  left 
of  the  further  respond,  is  worthy  of  notice  as  having  a  vault 
somewhat  resembling  that  of  the  apse  of  St.-Martin-des-Champs, 
while  it  shows  some  advance  on  that  design.  In  plan  (d,  Fig.  26) 
it  is  a  segment  of  less  than  half  a  circle,  and  the  vault  is  divided 
into  three  cells  by  two  ribs  converging  on  the  crown  of  the  arch 
that  separates  the  chapel  from  the  aisle.     This  vault  is  rendered 


74  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

less  domical  than  that  of  St.  Martin  by  the  stilting  (Fig.  27)  of 
the  wall  arches.  These  wall  arches  still,  however,  retain  the  semi- 
circular form,  and  the  window  opening  is  likewise  round  arched 
in  the  plainest  Romanesque  manner.  These  primitive  features, 
together  with  the  curved  plan  of  the  diagonal  ribs  in  the  aisle 
compartment,  and  the  robust,  though  not  inelegant,  proportions 
of  the  whole  design,  appear  to  justify  the  belief  that  the  work 
is  anterior  to  that  of  St.  Denis ;  and  thus  an  important  link  in 
the  chain  of  structural  progress  leading  from  Morienval  to  the 
work  of  Suger. 

Passing  into  the  choir,  the  eye  is  met  by  what  we  have  good 
reason  to  believe  was  the  first  great  Gothic  apse  (Plate  I)  ever 

constructed.  Its  lofty  vaults,  its 
stately  piers,  and  its  superimposed 
arcades  combine  to  produce  an  im- 
pression of  great  beauty.  The  vault 
of  this  apse  is  divided  into  five  cells 
by  strong  and  richly  ornamented 
ribs  that  converge  on  a  centre  against 
the  crown  of  the  transverse  rib  of  the 
adjoining  rectangular  vault  of  the 
choir.  The  wall  arches  (of  unusual 
thickness  because  the  clerestory  wall 
is  thinner  than  the  wall  beneath)  are 

stilted  and  pointed,  and  their  crowns 
Fig.  28.  ,     . 

rise  to  a  height  a  little  above   that 

at  which  the  converging  ribs  meet.  Thus  the  domical  form 
of  the  vault  as  a  whole,  which  is  so  excessive  in  St.-Martin-des- 
Champs,  and  is  still  so  considerable  in  the  apsidal  chapel  of  this 
same  building  just  noticed,  is  avoided.  But  the  crowns  of  the  cells 
are  slightly  arched,  and  their  surfaces  are  in  all  parts  sensibly 
domical.  The  Gothic  apsidal  vault  is  thus  already  developed 
here  with  substantial  fulness.  The  piers  of  the  apsidal  system 
are,  on  the  ground  story,  composed  like  those  of  the  apse  of 
Morienval,  with  the  addition  of  three  shafts  for  the  high  vault- 
ing. They  each  consist  of  a  core  composed  of  square-edged 
members,  the  whole  having  a  wedge-shaped  section  with  cur\^ed 
inner  and  outer  sides  conforming  with  the  curve  of  the  apse, 
and  engaged  round  shafts  to  support  the  various  archivolts 
and  vaulting  arches  (Fig.  28).     The  ground-story  members  are 


.-".ate 


APSE    Cr    ST.  GERMER-JDE-FLY. 
Second  qv&rter  of  CA-eifth  Century. 


Ill  GOTHIC  COXSTRUCTION'  IN  FRANCE  75 

crowned  by  a  group  of  capitals,  but  the  high  vaulting  shafts  rise 
unbroken  to  the  springing  of  the  vaults.  The  abaci  of  these 
capitals  conform  in  plan  with  the  trapezoidal  section  of  the 
pier  (Fig.  29),  and  thus  a  conoidal  or  a  twisted  intrados,  which 
would  result  in  the  archivolt  from  the  use  of  the  square  abaci, 
is  avoided.^  The  main  vaulting  shafts  are  proportioned  in  size 
to  the  ribs  which  they  respectively  support,  they  are  compactly 
grouped,  and  are  banded  by  the  triforium  string,  and  again  at 
the  level  of  the  abaci  of  the  triforium  capitals.  This  banding 
gives  a  sense  of  secure  in- 
corporation with  the  pier, 
and  is,  at  the  same  time, 
pleasant  to  the  eye.  The 
wall  ribs  are  stilted  by  small 
shafts  resting  on  the  clere- 
story string,  but  owing  to 
the  great  size  of  the  con- 
verging ribs,  against  which 
they  are  closely  placed,  they 
do  not  fall  directly  upon  the 
corresponding  members  in 
the  sustaining  shaft  group 
below.  The  clerestory  string 
is  of  unusual  character,  con-  '^'  ^' 

sisting  of  a  projecting  ledge  carried  on  corbels,  and  forming 
the  abaci  of  the  capitals  of  the  smaller  vaulting  shafts  (Fig. 
327,  P-  80). 

The  vaulting  system  of  St.  Germer  is  uniform  throughout. 
The  compartments  are  oblong,  and  the  execution  is  skilful  in 
all  parts.  The  vaults  have  the  perfectly  Gothic  form  which  will 
be  explained  farther  on,  though  the  ribs  are  unusually  heavy. 
In  the  choir  (an  exceptionally  short  one,  having  but  a  single 
bay)  the  eastern  branches  of  the  diagonal  ribs  are  not  provided 
witli  supporting  shafts,  but  are  carried  on  corbels  fashioned  into 
the  forms  of  bullocks'  heads,  and  placed  ju.st  above  the  impost 
of  the  transverse  rib  (Fig.  30).  This  is  an  awkward  arrange- 
ment, though  it  is  at  the  same  time  an  interesting  instance  of 
the  manner  in  which  structural  difficulties  were  frankly  over- 

^  Cf.  Viollet-le-Duc,  s.v.  Votitf,  p.  490.  The  impost  of  the  apse  of  Morienval 
has  the  same  trapezoidal  form,  and  it  is  frequent  in  Gothic  apses  of  all  epochs. 


76 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


come  by  the  readiest  and  least  objectionable  means.  To  have 
introduced  an  additional  shaft  for  the  support  of  this  rib  would 
have  given  an  unsymmetrical  form  to  the  pier,  which  would  have 
been  still  more  awkward.  In  later  Gothic  designs  the  apsidal 
vault  ribs  do  not,  as  we  shall  see,  converge  on  the  crown  of  the 
transverse  rib  of  the  choir, 
but  on  a  point  farther  east- 
ward. An  additional  rib  is 
then  inserted  on  each  side, 
springing  from  the  eastern- 
most piers  and  abutting  the 
thrusts  of  the  other  ribs.  In 
such  cases  a  shaft  is  inserted 
to  carry  the  additional  rib, 
and  a  corresponding  shaft  on 
the  opposite  side  carries  the 
groin  rib  of  the  choir  vault, 
which  is  here  carried  on  a 
corbel.  In  other  early  sys- 
tems, where  the  apsidal  vault- 
ing is  designed  like  this  of 
St.  Germer,  the  easternmost 
choir  vault  is  made  tripartite 
(as  will  be  explained  farther 
on),  as  in  the  Cathedral  of 
Noyon.  When  this  is  the 
case,  no  groin  ribs,  of  course, 
have  to  be  provided  for  in  the 
easternmost  pier,  and  no 
awkwardness  of  arrangement 
is  produced.  Throughout 
the  rest  of  the  building  the 
diagonal  ribs  arc  supported 
on  separate  shafts  rising  from 
the  pavement. 

It  is  especially  worthy  of  notice  that  these  vaults  of  St. 
Germer,  the  earliest  Gothic  vaults  on  a  large  scale,  have  the 
oblong  form  with  the  crowns  of  all  their  sustaining  ribs  at 
nearly  the  same  level.  We  shall  find  this  to  be  the  case  fre- 
quently, though  (as  already  remarked,  p.  65,  note)  it  has  gener- 


FlG.  30.  —  St.  Germer. 


GOTHIC  CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE 


77 


ally  been  supposed  that  these  characteristics  belong  exclusively 
to  the  more  advanced  stages  of  Gothic  construction. 

St.  Germer  has  a  vaulted  triforium  gallery  —  apparently  the 
first  (in  Gothic  buildings)  of  that  series  of  such  galleries  which 
assume  their  grandest  development  in  the  Cathedral  of  Paris. 
This  feature  is,  of  course,  derived  from  Lombard  and  Norman 
Romanesque  monuments  such  as  St.  Ambrogio  of  Milan  and 
the  Abbaye-aux-Hommes  at  Caen.     Here,  curiously,  it  retains 


Fig.  31.  —  Triforium  Gallery  of  St.  Germer-de-Fly. 

the  Romanesque  form  in  all  its  structural  parts.  Its  groined 
vaulting  is  of  the  most  primitive  type  derived  from  the  Roman 
models  with  the  addition  of  strong  transverse  ribs  separating 
the  compartments  from  one  another,  as  shown  in  Fig.  31.  But 
the  internal  openings  (as  shown  in  the  general  view  of  the  apse, 
Plate  I),  though  round  arched,  are  in  other  respects  of  early 
Gothic  character.  They  are  each  divided  by  coupled  shafts 
into  two  smaller  openings  spanned  by  a  larger  arch,  and  their 
tympanums  are  pierced  each  with  a  circular  opening,  in  some 
cases  cusped,  in  others  variously  ornamental.  These  are  re- 
markably early  instances  of  compound  openings  and  piercings, 


78  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

such  as  are  not  often  met  with  until  after  the  middle  of  the 
twelfth  century. 

The  presence  of  the  primitive  groined  vault,  and  the  round 
arch  in  the  internal  openings,  of  this  triforium,  in  singular  con- 
trast to  the  advanced  character  of  the  rest  of  the  design,  may, 
perhaps,  be  accounted  for  as  a  result  of  embarrassment  arising 
from  inexperience  in  the  erection  of  a  high  vaulted  structure. 
Having  established  the  ground-story  aisle  with  Gothic  vaulting 
of  necessarily  considerable  elevation,  these  unpractised  builders 
may  well  have  felt  that  to  place  a  vaulted  gallery  of  the  same 
character  over  it  would  raise  the  clerestory  dangerously  high  — 
the  expedient  of  meeting  the  high  vault  thrusts  by  external 
flying  buttresses  being  yet  unknown.  They  may  therefore 
have  felt  obliged  to  use  the  Roman  form  of  groined  vault,  the 
lowest  that  can  be  constructed,  necessitating  the  round  arch  in 
the  triforium  arcade.  But  this  and  all  other  explanations  of  the 
puzzling  forms  often  met  with  in  the  monuments  of  past  ages, 
concerning  which  we  have  no  precise  information,  must  be 
understood  to  be  conjectural ;  though  in  some  cases,  as  in  this 
one,  the  evidence  appears  to  have  almost  the  force  of  certainty. 
Over  a  vaulted  gallery  there  must,  of  course,  be  a  second  tri- 
forium. This,  in  St.  Germer,  was  formerly  pierced  with  up- 
right rectangijjar  openings  —  one  in  each  bay.  These  have  been 
walled  up,  but  their  framing  mouldings  still  remain,  so  that  the 
original  design  is  entirely  preserved  from  the  pavement  to  the 
crown  of  the  vault. 

In  the  structural  features  of  St.  Germer  thus  far  noticed 
we  have  found  only  improvement  in  the  use  of  forms  and 
principles  that  had  been  more  or  less  imperfectly  developed 
in  smaller  and  earlier  constructions.  But  we  now  come  to 
a  feature  that  is  entirely  new  and  of  the  greatest  impor- 
tance, namely,  the  rudimentary  flying  buttress.  On  the  out- 
side of  the  clerestory  only  a  feeble  buttress  in  the  form  of 
an  engaged  column  appears;  but  the  thickness  of  the  pier 
is  considerable,  the  wall  of  the  clerestory  is  heavy,  and  the 
wall  arches  of  the  vault  are'  unusually  deep.  These  com- 
bined members  offer  in  themselves  strong  resistance  to  the 
vault  thrusts.  The  builders  appear,  however,  to  have  lacked 
confidence  in  their  power  without  further  reenforcement  se- 
curely to  maintain  the   stability  of  the  system.     They  accord- 


in  GOTHIC  CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE  79 

ingly  resorted  to  the  novel  expedient  of  springing  half-arches 
from  the  tops  of  the  outer  piers  against  the  internal  piers 
beneath  the  timber  roof  of  the  triforium.  Though  weakly  con- 
structed, ineffectively  adjusted,  and  hidden  from  view,  these  are 
true  flying  buttresses  in  rudimentary  form  —  features  which  soon 
after  develop  into  the  most  essential  and  the  most  conspicuous 
of  those  which  make  up  the  external  system  of  the  Gothic 
building.  Figure  32,  a  section  through  one  side  of  the  choir, 
will  illustrate  the  whole  structural  system.  This  concealed 
flying  buttress  suggests  another  possible  reason  for  the  Roman- 
esque form  of  the  triforium.  In  order  to  get  the  necessary 
space  for  the  flying  buttress  beneath  the  aisle  roof,  the  upper 
triforium  had  to  be  of  considerable  height,  and  if  the  vaulted 
triforium  gallery  had  been  constructed  in  the  Gothic  manner,  it 
would  either  have  diminished  this  height  or  raised  the  clere- 
story to  a  level  which,  as  already  remarked,  the  inexperienced 
builders    may  have  thought  would  be  unsafe. 

Externally  this  building  exhibits  no  Gothic  character  what- 
ever. Its  plain  walls,  small  round-arched  openings,  and  shallow 
buttresses  are  thoroughly  Romanesque.  Some  French  writers 
have  therefore  supposed  that  the  Gothic  features  of  the  interior 
constitute  a  partial  reconstruction  of  the  edifice  executed  at  a 
time  considerably  subsequent  to  that  when  the  church  was 
originally  built.^  But  a  close  examination  of  the  structure 
shows  it  to  be  homogeneous  throughout,  so  that  however  dis- 
similar in  form,  the  inside  and  the  outside  of  the  building  can 
hardly  be  considered  other  than  the  work  of  one  epoch  and 
parts  of  one  whole.  This  want  of  agreement  between  the  in- 
terior and  the  exterior  is  a  marked  characteristic  of  most  early 
Gothic  monuments ;  and  is  an  interesting  evidence  of  the  mode 
of  the  Gothic  evolution  which  begins  with  the  vaulting  of  the 
interior,  where  the  necessity  for  structural  innovations  was  first 
felt.  In  no  other  building  is  the  fact  that  the  Gothic  style  was 
primarily  a  structural  development  more  clearly  apparent  than 
in  St.  Germer.  The  arches  are  pointed  only  where  the  mechani- 
cal exigencies  of  the  vaulting  havexalled  for  arches  of  this  form. 

^  M,  A.  de  Dion  advances  this  theory  {Bulletin  Monumental,  vol.  lii.  pp. 
12-22)  and  supports  it  with  arguments  that  would  seem  strong  were  it  not  for  other 
considerations  overlooked  by  this  writer,  some  of  which  were  urged  by  M.  Lefevre- 
Pontalis,  in  a  rejoinder  to  M.  de  Dion  (appended  to  the  latter  gentleman's  article). 


8o 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


They  occur  in  the  arcades  of  the  ground  story  and  clerestory  — 
where  they  have  to  perform  the  function  of  vault  ribs  as  well  as 


Fig.  32.  —  Section  of  System  of  St,  Germer-de-Fly. 

of  archivolts  —  and  in  the  transverse  and  longitudinal  ribs,  but 
not  elsewhere. 


Ill  GOTHIC  CONSTRUCTION-  IN  FRANCE  8i 

The  Church  of  St.  Maclou  of  Pontoise  affords  evidence  of 
further  progress  in  the  vaulting  of  apsidal  aisles.  This  edifice, 
though  considered  by  so  high  an  authority  as  M.  Lefevre-Pon- 
talis  to  be  posterior  to  Suger's  apse  of  St.  Denis,^  exhibits  fea- 
tures which  seem  to  justify  the  belief  that  it  is  of  an  earlier 
epoch.  The  round  arch  is  here  retained  in  the  wall  ribs,  the 
profiling  of  the  diagonal  ribs  is  primitive,  the  pointed  section 
(like  that  of  St.  Etienne  of  Beauvais)  occurs  in  some  of  the 
vaulting  shafts,  and  the  capitals  and  bases  are  of  early  type. 
These  characteristics,  though  not  necessarily  affording  conclu- 
sive evidence,  would  appear  to  indicate  that  the  work  is  earlier 
than  St.  Denis.  And  further  confirmation  of  this  view  is  found 
in  the  peculiar  arrangement  of  the  ribs,  whereby  each  compart- 
ment of  the  aisle,  and  the  chapel  which  opens  out  of  it,  are 
united  under  one  vault(Fig.  33).  The  arch  ^(Fig.  26,  p.  72),  which 
in  St.  Germer  separates  the  chapel  vault  from  that  of  the  aisle, 
is  here  omitted.  In  place  of  the  two  ribs  which  in  the  chapel 
of  St.  Germer  converge  on  the  crown  of  the  arch  c,  we  have,  in 
St.  Maclou,  a  single  rib  of  greater  length  reaching  forward  into 
the  aisle  to  the  intersection  of  the  diagonals  of  its  vaulting.  A 
further  innovation  is  noticeable  here  in  the  forms  of  the  diago- 
nals themselves,  which,  as  shown  in  the  figure,  are  straight  in 
plan,  instead  of  being  curved  as  in  Morienval  and  St.  Germer. 
Thus  all  survival  of  forms  growing  out  of  ancient  modes  of 
vaulting  by  interpenetrating  geometrical  surfaces  have  disap- 
peared, and  the  skeleton  of  ribs  wholly  determines  the  shape 
of  the  vault.  It  yet  remained,  however,  to  find  a  way,  while 
avoiding  the  curved  diagonal,  to  more  nearly  equalize  the  areas 
of  the  several  triangular  cells  which  are  here,  owing  to  the 
straight  direction  given  to  the  diagonals,  very  unequal  in  size. 

This  was  accomplished  in  the  Church  of  St.  Denis  as  it  was 
rebuilt  under  the  administration  of  the  Abbot  Suger,  and  conse- 
crated in  the  year  1140.  The  greater  part  of  Suger's  church 
has  been  destroyed,  but  among  the  portions  that  have  survived 
are  the  apsidal  aisles  and  the  radial  chapels.  These  have  been 
preserved  in  excellent  condition,  and  they  exhibit  a  surprising 
architectural  advance.  The  design  is  more  elaborate  than  that 
of  any  building  thus  far  considered,  and  it  is  on  a  larger  scale. 

*  Monographic  de  DEglise  St.  Maclou  de  Pontoise,  Paris,  1888,  p.  99. 

G 


82 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


The  aisles  are  double  and  foreshadow  the  vast  and  magnificent 
aisles  of  Paris,  Chartres,  and  Amiens.  The  work  shows  few 
signs  of  hesitation  or  experiment,  and  bespeaks  the  sureness 
and  executive  precision  of  builders  who  had  already  attained  a 
high  degree  of  understanding  and  skill.  Here  (Fig.  34)  we 
have  a  modification  of,  and  an  improvement  on,  the  arrange- 


Fig.  33.  —  Vault  of  Apsidal  Aisle,  Pontoise. 

ment  of  the  vaulting  just  noticed  in  Pontoise.  The  chapel  and 
the  adjoining  bay  of  the  aisle  are  in  the  same  manner  united 
under  one  vault  by  the  omission  of  the  dividing  arch,  and  the 
extension  of  the  rib  c  to  the  intersection  of  the  diagonals.  But 
the  ill-proportioned  length  given  to  this  rib  in  the  vault  of  Pon- 
toise, and  the  unequal  dimensions  of  the  triangular  cells  which 
there  result,  are  avoided  here  in  St.  Denis  by  an  innovation  that 


GOTHIC   CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE 


83 


established  the  distinctively  Gothic  arrangement  of  diagonal  ribs 
in  apsidal  aisle  vaulting  —  that,  namely,  of  disposing  their  oppo- 
site branches  (which  as  in  Pontoise  are  straight  in  plan)  so  that 
they  meet  at  an  angle.  The  point  of  intersection  may  be  thus 
placed  wherever  the  architect  chooses.  It  is  here  near  the  centre 
of  the  vault,  and  the  cells  are  by  this  means  rendered  nearly 


Fig.  34.  —  Vaults  of  Apsidal  Aisles  of  St.  Denis. 

equal  in  area.  This  vaulting  has  a  full  system  of  ribs,  all  of 
which,  except  the  diagonals,  are  pointed.  Here  also,  apparently 
for  the  first  time,  the  window  openings  of  the  chapels  have 
pointed  arches  concentric  with  the  structural  arches  of  the 
vaulting.  It  is  noticeable,  too,  that  these  openings  are  much 
enlarged,  their  archivolts  forming  sub-arches  to  the  vault  ribs. 

Although  the  difficulties  that  had  embarrassed    the  earlier 
builders,  and    had    led   to  the    awkward  forms  of   the    apsidal 


84  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

vaulting  of  Morienval,  were  now  largely  conquered,  yet  irregu- 
larities of  form  could  not  be  wholly  avoided.  Irregularities  are, 
in  fact,  inherent  in  the  Gothic  system,  which  in  this  respect 
resembles  nature  itself,  where  a  vital  principle  seems  to  operate 
to  prevent  perfect  uniformity  in  the  development  of  organic 
forms.  And  in  Gothic  architecture,  as  in  nature,  these  irregu- 
larities often  give  to  the  forms  produced  an  added  charm. 
They  result,  in  part,  from  lack  of  mechanical  precision  in  lay- 
ing out  plans  and  carrying  up  the  edifice,  but  more  largely  from 
structural  necessities.  It  will  be  seen,  for  instance,  that  the 
trapezoidal  plan  of  this  bay  of  the  apsidal  aisle  of  St.  Denis  is 
considerably  askew,  and  that  the  vault  rib/,  whose  elevation  is 
_/"',  having  to  interpenetrate  with  the  other  ribs  which  spring 
from  the  impost  g,  in  order  that  they  may  all  be  gathered  upon 
the  capital  of  the  single  column  of  the  system  which  divides  the 
aisles,  gives  to  the  arch  of  the  vault  surface  the  same  one-sided 
form  that  we  have  noticed  in  the  vault  of  Morienval.  This,  of 
course,  results  of  necessity  in  all  cases  where  a  vaulting  arch 
interpenetrates  at  the  impost  on  one  side  and  not  on  the  other  — 
which  it  often  does  even  in  advanced  Gothic  buildings,  as  in  the 
apsidal  aisles  of  Chartres.  If  it  were  desired  to  avoid  this 
interpenetration,  a  group  of  columns  would  be  needed  instead 
of  a  single  one,  so  that  each  rib  of  the  compound  impost  might 
rest  on  a  capital  of  its  own.  But  such  a  group  of  columns 
would  take  up  too  much  space,  and  produce  a  heavy  effect  in 
the  aisle.  In  cases  where  both  sides  of  the  arch  interpenetrate, 
the  arch  of  the  vault  surface  becomes,  of  course,  symmetrical, 
but  it  is  not  concentric  with  the  intrados  of  the  rib  —  as  may  be 
seen  in  the  elevation  Ji^  of  the  arch  h  (Fig.  34). 

From  this  analysis  it  will  be  seen  that  in  St.  Denis  the 
apsidal  aisle  vault  was  almost  completely  developed.  The 
difficulties  of  vaulting  such  aisles  by  the  older  methods  of 
construction  had  been  considerable,  and  the  work  when  accom- 
plished was  inelegant.  The  sinuous  unsupported  groins  of  the 
primitive  apsidal  compartments  were  inherently  weak,  and  the 
excessive  stilting  and  other  awkward  expedients  necessarily 
resorted  to  were  unsightly.  But  by  the  use  of  the  rib  system 
and  the  pointed  arch  the  architects  were  now  enabled  to  vault 
these  concentric  aisles  with  facility,  security,  and  elegance. 

The  apsidal  aisles  of  the  Church  of  St.  Louis  of  Poissy  and 


Ill  GOTHIC   CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE  85 

the  Cathedral  of  Sens,  though  backward  in  development  as 
compared  with  St.  Germer  and  St.  Denis,  exhibit  respectively 
some  experimental  adjustments  that  require  notice.  I  have 
already,  in  the  preceding  chapter  (p.  54),  spoken  of  St.  Louis 
of  Poissy  as  a  Romanesque  rather  than  a  transitional  monu- 
ment. The  eminent  French  writer,  M.  Felix  de  Verneilh,^ 
has,  however,  supposed  it  to  be  the  immediate  precursor  of  St. 
Denis,  and  more  recently  the  same  view  has  been  taken  by  M. 
Anthyme  Saint-Paul.^  But  in  the  light  of  the  constructions 
already  considered  a  theory  which  derives  the  apsidal  vaulting 
of  St.  Denis  directly  from  that  of  Poissy  is  hardly  tenable ;  and 
the  emphatic  statement  of  ViolIet-le-Duc^  that  the  principles  of 
the  vaulting  of  St.  Denis  are  not  approached  by  those  of  Poissy 
is  not  too  strong.  For  in  the  vaulting  of  Poissy  the  principle  of 
interpenetrating  regular  geometric  surfaces  is  largely  retained. 
The  crowns  of  the  vaults  are  straight  in  section,  and  the  groins 
are  without  ribs.*  The  aisle  vaulting  of  Poissy  is  thought  to  be 
nearly  contemporaneous  with  the  vaulting  of  St.  Germer  and 
also  with  that  of  Pontoise ;  its  primitive  character  is  therefore 
remarkable,  especially  when  its  locality  so  near  to  Paris  is  con- 
sidered. The  longitudinal  rib,  however,  is  here  present,  and  the 
manner  of  its  adjustment  to  the  other  arches  of  the  vault  is  un- 
like anything  that  we  have  before  met  with,  and  is  worthy  of 
notice.  The  vaulting  arches  of  Poissy  are  all  semicircular  or 
segmental,  and  this  longitudinal  rib,  spanning  the  longest  side 
of  the  vault,  has  necessarily  a  higher  crown  than  those  of  the 
other  sides.  To  prevent,  therefore,  the  crown  of  this  rib  from 
reaching  much  higher  than  that  of  the  opposite  arch  on  the 
narrow  side  of  the  trapezoid,  its  springing  is  placed  at  a  lower 
level  than  that  of  the  other  arches.^  Many  of  the  minor  features 
of  Poissy,  as  the  capitals  and  bases  of  the  apsidal  piers,  closely 

1  Les  Premiers  des  Monuments  Gothiques.     Paris,  1864. 

2  Viollet-le-Duc  et  son  Systeme  Archcologique,  Tours,   188 1,  p.  130. 
^  Dictionnaire,  s.v.   Voute,  p.  503. 

*  St.  Louis  of  Poissy  has  suffered  so  greatly  from  restoration  and  alteration  that 
it  is  now  hardly  possible  to  gather  from  the  building  itself  any  clear  understanding  of 
the  original  east  end.  If,  however,  the  drawings  by  \'iollet-le-Duc,  made  before  the 
restorations,  and  now  in  the  Trocadero,  may  be  trusted,  the  statements  in  the  text 
above  are  correct. 

*  In  St.  Denis  the  groin  rib  is  sprung  from  a  level  below  that  of  the  transverse 
rib  for  the  same  reason. 


86  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

resemble  those  of  St.  Denis ;  but  in  the  structural  principles  of 
its  vaulting  the  two  monuments  have  little  in  common. 

The  apsidal  aisles  of  the  Cathedral  of  Sens,  which  are  nearly 
contemporaneous  with  those  of  St.  Denis/  while  having  con- 
siderable likeness  to  Poissy,  exhibit  a  much  more  advanced  con- 
struction. The  vaults  have  here  the  domical  form,  are  provided 
with  groin  ribs,  and  have  the  pointed  arch  on  the  narrow  side 
of  each  compartment.  In  the  groin  ribs  the  same  adjustment 
occurs  that  we  have  noticed  in  St.  Denis  —  the  opposite  branches 
of  each  rib  meeting  in  plan  at  an  angle,  and  bringing  the  inter- 


FiG,  35.  —  Vault  of  Apsidal  Aisle  of  Sens. 

section  near  the  middle  of  the  compartment  (Fig.  35).  If  Sens 
be,  as  some  writers  suppose,^  anterior  to  St.  Denis,  then  this 
innovation  may  be  due  to  its  architect.  In  the  adjustment  of 
the  arch  on  the  long  side  of  the  vault,  the  architect  has  followed 
the  designer  of  Poissy.  The  shaft  group,  also,  is  composed  like 
that  of  Poissy,  and  thus  has  no  member  for  the  support  of  the 
diagonal  rib.  The  diagonal  rib  here  inserted  rests,  therefore, 
on  a  corbel  placed  just  above  the  impost  of  the  transverse  rib 
(Fig.  36)  as  in  the  choir  of  St.  Germer  (Fig.  30).  Another 
characteristic  of  this  vaulting  is  the  manner  in  which  the  inner 
branches  of  the  transverse  ribs  are  provided  for  by  separate 


1  Cf.  Anthyme  Saint-Paul,  Op.  cit.,  p.  138. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  139. 


Ill 


GOTHIC  CONSTRUCTIOiY  IN  FRANCE 


87 


supports  in  the  great  piers.  The  easternmost  two  of  these  piers 
consist  of  coupled  round  columns  ranged  in  line  with  the  direc- 
tion of  the  transverse  rib  —  as  at  b,  Fig.  35  ;  while  the  other  two 
are  composed  as  at  c  in  the  same  figure.  Ample  space  is  thus 
afforded  for  the  impost  of  each  arch,  and  no  interpenetrations, 
or  distortions  of  the  vault  surfaces,  occur. 

It  is  impossible  to  be  precise  in  chronological  sequence,, 
but  the  cathedrals  of  Noyon  and 
Senlis  must,  it  would  seem,  have 
followed  very  soon  after  Suger's 
work  at  St.  Denis.  They  are,  be- 
yond doubt,  nearly  contemporaneous 
buildings,^  and  illustrate  the  progress 
that  had  been  made  by  the  middle 
of  the  twelfth  century.  Both  of 
these  churches  were  designed  on  a 
considerable  scale.  They  have  ap- 
sidal  aisles,  radial  chapels,  and 
vaulted  triforium  galleries.  In  their 
proportions  and  structural  features 
they  show  a  free  exercise  of  the 
inventive  talents  of  those  secular 
builders  who  were  already  beginning 
to  take  a  leading  part  in  architec- 
tural works,  finding  scope  for  their 
genius  in  the  communal  cathedrals 
that  were  now  rising  in  quick  succes- 
sion in  the  newly  chartered  towns. 

Noyon  had  been  one  of  the  first 
cities  to  organize  a  commune,  and  it 
had  done  so  under  the  fortunate  cir- 
cumstance of  its  bishop  having  taken 
an  initiative  in  the  work,  so  that 
from  the  first  there  was  harmony  between  the  ecclesiastical 
and    civil   authorities,^   which  was   not   always   the    case    else- 


FlG.  36.  —  Sens. 


'  M.  Vitet  has  shown  {Noire-Daute  de  Noyon,  par  L.  Vitet,  Paris,  1845)  ^^''' 
the  earliest  portions  of  Noyon  must  have  been  begun  as  early  as  1150,  while  Senlis, 
is  supposed  by  M.  Lefevre-Pontalis  {Bibliotheque  de  rAcole  des  Charles,  vol.  xlvi. 
p.  492)  to  have  been  begun  about  1156. 

^  A.  Thierry,  Lettres  sur  P Hist,  de  France,  p.  223  et  seq. 


88  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

where.  From  this  circumstance  it  has  been  supposed  by  M. 
Viollet-le-Duc  ^  and  by  M.  Vitet  ^  that  the  communal  influence 
in  the  design  of  this  cathedral  was  less  exclusive  than  it  was 
now  generally  coming  to  be,  and  that  some  of  its  features 
(the  peculiar  use  of  the  round  arch  in  connection  with  the 
pointed  arch,  and  the  ample  development  of  the  apsidal 
chapels)  may  be  concessions  to  the  ecclesiastical  traditions 
and  preferences.  In  the  light,  however,  of  the  earlier  and 
contemporaneous  monuments,  which  had  not  been  thoroughly 
studied  at  the  time  when  these  authors  wrote,  there  seems  to  be 
little  ground  for  this  view.  The  ecclesiastical  builders  had 
themselves  made  the  first  structural  innovations,  and  it  does  not 
appear  that  they  had  any  conservative  preferences  standing 
in  the  way  of  architectural  progress,  though  this  progress  was 
undoubtedly  hastened  when  the  lay  builders  began  to  take  a 
leading  part  in  the  production  of  monumental  works. 

However  this  may  be,  the  choir  and  apse  of  Noyon  are 
indeed  in  some  respects  peculiar  in  design.  In  transitional 
buildings  generally,  the  pointed  arch  is  used  throughout  for 
the  structural  arches  of  the  interior.  At  Noyon  this  is  not 
the  case.  We  have  noticed  in  the  triforium  gallery  of  St. 
Germer  another  exception  to  the  general  use  of  the  pointed 
arch  in  interiors,  but  at  Noyon  we  find  the  round  form  retained 
in  some  of  the  most  important  structural  arches. 

The  system  of  this  choir  is  uniform,  and  the  original  high 
vaulting  has  survived,  though  it  has  been  somewhat  repaired. 
As  in  St.  Germer,  the  crowns  of  all  of  the  vault  ribs  are  made 
to  reach  to  nearly  the  same  level,  though  in  the  longitudinal  rib 
(the  one  which,  as  being  the  narrowest  in  span,  most  requires 
the  pointed  form)  the  round  arch  is  retained.  To  get  the 
crown  of  this  rib  up  to  the  high  level  which  it  reaches,  it  had, 
of  course,  to  be  very  much  stilted.  This  seems  to  afford  an- 
other proof  that  the  pointed  arch  was  not  introduced  into  the 
Gothic  system  because  of  an  aesthetic  preference ;  for  the 
builders  here  seem  to  have  been  not  quite  settled  in  their 
minds  with  regard  to  its  use,  choosing,  in  this  case,  rather 
than  to  employ  it   to    stilt   thus   excessively    the   round   arch. 


^  S.v.  Cathedral,  Dictionnaire,  p.  303. 

^  Monographic  de  I '' Eglise  de  A^otre-Damt  de  Noyon. 


Ill  GOTHIC   CON^TRC/CTJON  IN  FRANCE  89 

In  the  ajDse  the  pointed  form  alone  is  used,  not  only  in  the 
structural  arches  of  the  interior,  but  also  in  the  external  open- 
ings of  the  ground  story,  the  triforium,  and  the  clerestory. 
This  apse  is  thus  apparently  the  earliest  extant  structure 
of  three  stories  in  which  the  pointed  arch  is  used  consistently 
throughout.  In  the  choir  the  vaulting  of  the  triforium  gallery 
is  also  on  pointed  arches,  and  hence  the  triforium  openings  are 
pointed ;  but  in  the  lower  aisle  vaulting  the  round  arch  is 
retained  in  all  except  the  transverse  ribs,  so  that  the  ground- 
story  archivolts  of  the  choir  are  necessarily  round.  They  are 
of  a  single  order  of  square  section,  with  plainly  bevelled  edges, 
and  have  a  singularly  primitive  effect  in  a  design  that  is  in 
many  respects  far  advanced  in  Gothic  character.  We  have 
thus  in  the  choir  of  Noyon  an  arrangement  which  is  just  the 
reverse  of  that  above  noticed  in  St.  Germer,  where  a  round- 
arched  triforium  is  placed  between  a  ground  story  and  clere- 
story, both  of  which  have  pointed  vaulting.  It  seems  not 
unlikely  that  this  may  have  arisen  as  another  mode  of  meeting 
the  difficulty  that  appears  to  have  embarrassed  the  builders 
of  St.  Germer.  Choosing  to  have  the  higher  Gothic  triforium, 
the  architect  of  Noyon  may  have  been  led  to  employ  the  low 
round-arched  ground  story,  fearing  that  otherwise  he  might 
carry  the  whole  structure  dangerously  high.  It  is  further 
noticeable  that  the  upper  triforium  of  Noyon  is  so  much 
lower  than  that  of  St.  Germer  that  there  can  hardly  have 
been  room  for  concealed  flying  buttresses,  and  it  is  not  im- 
probable that  these  important  members  of  the  Gothic  system 
were  here  for  the  first  time  used  externallv.^ 

The  principal  innovation  that  occurs  in  the  choir  and  apse 
of  Noyon  (unless  it  be  true  that  the  external  flying  buttress 
was  here  first  developed)  is  the  substitution  of  single  round 
columns  for  compound  piers  on  the  ground  story.  Such  col- 
umns had  before  been  used  in  alternation  with  compound  piers, 
as  in  the  nave  of  Jumieges,  and  in  the  curve  of  the  apse  as  at 
Vignory,  Xotrc-Damc  de  la  Couture  of  Le  Mans,  Poissy,  and 
elsewhere ;  but  they  had  not,  I  believe,  before  been  employed 

1  I  have  not  very  tlioroughly  examined  this  part  of  the  apse  of  Noyon  on  the 
spot.  It  is  quite  possible  that  the  form  of  the  primitive  buttressing  could  still  be 
made  out  by  an  examination  of  the  piers  beneath  the  aisle  roof.  The  existing  ex- 
ternal buttresses  of  the  clerestory  are  interpolations  of  the  Renaissance  period. 


90  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

for  the  entire  ground-story  system  of  a  vaulted  edifice.  They 
are  here  very  slender  in  proportion  to  the  bulk  and  weight  of 
the  loads  they  carry,  and  are  in  this  respect  without  precedent 
in  Western  Europe,  though  columns  of  equal  slenderness 
(already  noticed,  p.  33)  were  used  long  before  in  the  Church 
of  St.  Sophia  of  Constantinople. ^  In  such  piers  the  vaulting 
shafts  rise  from  the  spreading  capitals  (Fig.  148,  p.  310)  of  these 
columns,  and  there  are  consequently  no  vaulting  shafts  rising 
continuously  from  the  pavement  upward.  But  much  space  is 
gained  by  the  use  of  such  columns,  together  with  a  general 
effect  of  lightness  and  elegance.  This  system  was  afterwards 
adopted  for  both  choir  and  nave  in  the  larger  cathedrals  of 
Paris  and  Laon,  but  it  was  soon  after  improved  upon,  —  the 
builders,  as  we  shall  see,  finding  a  mode  to  secure  the  starting 
of  the  vault  supports  from  the  pavement  without  returning  to  the 
massive  compound  piers  of  the  earlier  vaulted  structures. 

We  now  come  to  an  important  monument  in  which  a  some- 
what different  type  of  construction  occurs  —  the  Cathedral  of 
Senlis.  Senlis,  like  St.  Germer,  was  originally  constructed 
throughout  on  one  uniform  design,  but,  unlike  St.  Germer  and 
most  other  large  churches,  it  had  originally  no  transept.^ 

Of  the  choir  the  primitive  construction  survives,  with  a  few 
minor  exceptions,  up  to  the  level  of  the  clerestory  string ;  but 
the  existing  clerestory  is  an  incongruous  and  ill-proportioned  work 

1  The  original  ground-story  columns  of  the  choir  of  Noyon  remain  in  the  curve 
of  the  apse  only.  Those  of  the  straight  part  of  the  choir,  which  are  of  larger  dimen- 
sions, with  a  small  engaged  shaft  on  each,  are  alterations  of  a  later  epoch.  In  the 
westernmost  pier  on  the  south  side,  the  abacus  of  the  original  smaller  column  may 
i)e  still  seen  above  that  of  the  later  one. 

2  The  evidence  that  Senlis  had  originally  no  transept  is  plain  in  the  monument 
iitself.  The  space  (12.50  m.)  between  the  main  pier  of  the  nave  at  the  crossing 
of  the  existing  transept,  and  the  main  pier  on  the  east  side  of  the  first  bay  of  the 
choir,  is  almost  exactly  equal  to  that  of  two  double  bays.  Moreover,  this  main  pier 
■of  the  nave  has  a  capital  on  the  transept  side  of  the  same  size  and  type,  and  on  the 
same  level,  as  the  one  on  the  opposite  side  which  carries  the  ground-story  archivolt. 
This  capital,  which  now  has  no  function,  must  have  carried  its  part  of  the  continuous 
rarcade  of  the  primitive  nave.  The  alteration  was  made,  apparently,  about  the  middle 
of  the  thirteenth  century  by  destroying  one  double  bay  and  altering  another  into  a 
rather  wide  single  bay.  The  date  of  this  change  is  manifest  by  the  character  of 
the  newly  inserted  crossing  pier  on  the  east  side  of  the  transept.  This  has  the  slen- 
der shafts  and  capitals  of  the  type  that  characterizes  the  work  of  the  middle  of  the 
thirteenth  century.  But  this  transept  is  disfigured  in  many  parts  by  later  flamboyant 
alterations. 


Ill 


GOTHIC  COiVSTRO'CT/ON'  IN  FRANCE 


91 


of  a  much  later  period.  The  pier  system  is  alternate,  and  the 
forms  of  the  piers  show  that  the  primitive  vaulting  must  have 
been  constructed  on  the  sexpartite  plan  which  had  been  evolved 
in  the  Abbaye-aux-Hommes  at  Caen.  But  the  architectural 
progress  of  the  time  must  have  been  shown  in  the  improved 
form  and  execution  of  the  vaults,  which  were  probably  the 
earliest  sexpartite  vaults  ever  constructed  on  Gothic  principles. 
Hardly  any  vaults  of  this  form  are  extant  in  the  Ile-de-France 
of  a  date  earlier  than  those  of  the  choir  of  the  Cathedral  of  Paris 
—  which  were  completed  about  1177.^     The  sexpartite  vaulting 


Fig.  37.  —  Senlis. 

of  Caen  seems  to  have  been,  as  we  have  seen  (p.  48),  developed 
largely  by  chance  in  altering  the  building  at  a  period  consider- 
ably later  than  that  of  its  original  construction.  The  vault  sup- 
ports there,  having  been  derived  from  the  Lombard  models, 
were  not  intended  for  such  vaults  as  they  now  carry.  But  here 
in  Senlis  nothing  was  fortuitous  or  unforeseen.  The  vaults  and 
their  supports  were  simultaneously  conceived,  and  were  in  all 
respects  parts  of  an  organic  whole.  This  is  shown  by  the  piers 
still  extant,  though  not  a  stone  of  the  primitive  vaulting  remains 
in  place.    The  section  of  the  main  pier  is  shown  in  Fig.  37.    The 

1  Cf.  V.  Mortet,  &tude  Historique  ei  Archeologique  siir  la  Cathedrale  et  le  Palais 
episcopal  de  Paris,  Paris,  1888,  p.  43. 


92  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

round  column  a  supported  the  main  transverse  rib  of  the  high 
vault,  b  and  c  were  the  supports  of  the  archivolts  of  the  ground 
story,  and  d  supported  the  transverse  rib  of  the  aisle  vault, 
while  f  and  g  carried  the  diagonal  ribs  of  the  high  vault, 
i  and  j  the  diagonal  ribs  of  the  aisle  vault,  and  e  and  h  the 
longitudinal  ribs  of  the  high  vault.  The  only  capitals  in  this 
pier  on  the  ground-story  level  are  those  of  the  archivolt  columns 
and  the  vaulting  shafts  of  the  aisles.  The  five  other  members 
which  compose  the  great  vaulting  group  rise  without  interrup- 
tion to  the  point  from  which  the  high  vault  sprung.  The  whole 
pier  is  built  up  of  coursed  masonry  admirably  cut  and  closely 
jointed.  The  intermediate  pier  is,  on  the  ground  story,  a  single 
round  column  from  whose  capital  (upon  which  are  also  gathered 
the  two  archivolts,  and  the  transverse  and  diagonal  ribs  of  the 
aisle  vault)  rise  three  slender  vaulting  shafts  to  support  the 
intermediate  transverse  rib  and  the  two  longitudinal  ribs. 

The  vaulting  of  Caen  (Fig.  15,  p.  49),  though  constituting  a 
new  and  fecund  type,  is  not  Gothic  vaulting.  In  Gothic  vaulting 
every  arch  has  a  supporting  rib,  and  the  rib  system  constitutes 
an  independent  framework  which  determines  the  form  of  the 
vault.  But  in  Caen  the  rib  system  is  incomplete,  it  but  partially 
and  imperfectly  performs  the  function  of  an  independent  skele- 
ton, and  it  but  slightly  determines  the  form  of  the  vault.  The 
mind  of  the  builder  had  not  freed  itself  from  the  idea  of  the 
Roman  groined  vault.  He  felt  the  advantage  of  the  rib  system 
in  an  imperfect  way,  however,  and  this,  together  with  the  sex- 
partite  innovation  which  the  intermediate  shaft  had  suggested, 
compelled  a  wide  departure  from  the  Roman  form.  The  result 
is  curious.  The  larger  triangles  of  the  vaults  have  nearly  cylin- 
drical surfaces,  but  the  groin  arches  being,  as  we  have  seen 
(p.  48),  imperfect  segments  of  circles  rather  than  semi-ellipses, 
some  distortion  of  the  cylindrical  form  is  occasioned.  The  most 
radical  departure  from  the  ancient  principles  of  vaulting  occurs 
in  the  lateral  cells.  These  do,  indeed,  mark  a  far-reaching, 
though  an  awkward,  step  in  the  direction  of  Gothic  vaulting. 
The  surfaces  of  the  triangular  spaces  enclosed  by  the  inter- 
mediate transverse  ribs,  the  diagonal  ribs,  and  the  clerestory 
wall  necessarily  assume  irregular  forms  in  accommodating 
themselves  to  the  positions,  and  the  varying  curves,  of  these 
arches,   and  owing  to  the  shapes  and  the  adjustments  of  the 


in 


GOTHIC   CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE 


93 


arches  the  forms  are  needlessly  inelegant.  In  Senlis,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  logical  design  and  skilful  execution  of  the  piers 
just  described,  together  with  the  admirable  execution  and  design 
of  aisle  vaulting,  make  it  appear  certain  that  here  there  were  no 


Fig.  38. —  Senlis. 


such  defects.  The  architect  of  this  monument  had  a  perfect 
understanding  of  his  vaulting  scheme  in  all  its  parts,  and  of  the 
means  by  which  it  should  be  carried  out.  His  ground  plan  was 
laid  out,  and  the  forms  of  his  piers  were  determined  with  rigor- 


94  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap,  hi 

ous  provision  for  its  requirements.  The  principle  fortuitously 
evolved  and  rudely  embodied  in  the  Abbaye-aux-Hommes  was 
undoubtedly  worked  out  in  Senlis  with  mechanical  precision  and 
artistic  skill. 

Figures  38  and  39,  an  elevation  and  section,  and  Fig.  40, 
a  perspective  view,  will  afford  a  clearer  idea  than  words  can  do 
of  what  remains  of  this  choir.^  It  will  be  seen  that  the  archi- 
volts  are  pointed  in  both  ground  story  and  triforium.  Those 
of  the  triforium  are  of  two  orders  which  are  not  concentric,  an 
adjustment  of  doubled  orders  which  is  rare  in  France,  though 
it  occurs  in  a  few  other  transitional  buildings,  as  in  the  neigh- 
bouring Church  of  St.  Evremond  of  Creil  and  also  in  St.  Denis. 
The  perspective  view  will  afford  some  idea  of  the  quiet  beauty 
of  this  interesting  monument,  as  well  as  of  the  degree  of  Gothic 
expression  that  was  reached  in  it.  In  the  apse  of  Noyon  we 
apparently  have  the  earliest  extant  monument  of  three  stories  in 
which  the  pointed  arch  is  used  throughout.  In  Senlis  we  have, 
perhaps,  the  earliest  instance  in  which  this  arch  was  used 
throughout  the  interior  alike  for  apse  and  choir. 

The  same  constructive  logic  is  carried  out  in  the  other  por- 
tions of  this  interior.  The  vaults  of  the  aisles,  of  the  apsidal 
chapels,  and  of  the  triforium  gallery  show  no  defects  of  princi- 
ple or  of  workmanship ;  and  they  remain  in  perfect  condition. 
It  will  be  noticed  (plan,  Fig.  41)  that  the  great  rib  c  dividing  the 
vault  of  the  apsidal  chapel  from  the  adjoining  compartment  of 
the  aisle,  which  was  omitted  in  Pontoise  and  St.  Denis,  is  here 
restored ;  and  that  the  vault  of  the  chapel,  thus  rendered  inde- 
pendent of  that  of  the  aisle,  has  groin  ribs  like  those  of  a  rec- 
tangular vault,  and  that  the  groins  of  the  aisle  compartment  are 
arranged,  like  those  of  St.  Denis,  so  as  to  follow  straight  lines 
in  the  plan  and  intersect  in  the  middle  of  the  vault.  At  Noyon, 
where  the  chapels  are  more  developed,  a  similar  arrangement 
of  the  ribs  occurs,  together  with  an  additional  rib  in  the  direction 
of  the  axis,  which  makes  the  vault  (Fig.  42)  quinquepartite. 
This,  with  further  amplifications,  became  the  general  form  of 
apsidal  chapel  vaulting  —  the  number  of  cells  being  increased 
to  six  in  the  cathedrals  of  Chartres,  Amiens,  Reims,  and  other 
large  churches.     The  window  openings  of  the  chapels  of  Senlis 

1  The  wall  is  left  incomplete  in  the  section  (Fig.  39),  because  later  alterations 
have  obliterated  all  traces  of  the  original  design  in  the  parts  omitted. 


Fig.  39.  —  Senlis. 


96 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


are  large,  and  a  few  of  them  are  slightly  pointed,  but  the  most 
are  round-arched. 

It  may  here  be  remarked  that  we  have  reached  the  time  of 


Fk;.  40.  —  Senlis. 


greatest  perfection  in  masonry,  and  nowhere  do  we  iind  skill  in 
the  manipulation  of  carefully  selected  material  more  admirably 
exhibited  than  in  the  Cathedral  of  Senlis.     After  11 30,  for  a 


GOTHIC   CONSTRUCTION'  IN  FRANCE 


97 


period  of  perhaps  sixty  years,  the  vaults,  piers,  and  walls  of  the 
Gothic  buildings  are  unrivalled  for  fineness  of  facing  and  pre- 
cision of  jointing.     They  are  in  this  respect  in  striking  contrast 


Fig.  41.  —  Senlis. 

to  those  of  the  larger  constructions  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
which  are  often  rough-jointed  and  rudely  faced. 

We  have  already  noticed  that  the  churches  of  St.  Germer 
and  Noyon  exhibit  a  nearer  approach  to  Gothic  character  and 
expression  within  than  without,  and  the  same  is  true  of  Senlis. 

H 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


The  interior  is  frankly  Gothic  in  its  structural  features,  while 
what  remains  of  the  original  exterior  is  almost  as  completely 
Romanesque  as  that  of  St.  Germer.  External  features,  in  the 
Gothic  system,  are  a  consequence  of  internal  structure,  and 
in  the  process  of  development  they  are  the  last  things  to 
change.      The  change  begins  at  the  very  heart  of  the  fabric 


Fig.  42.  —  Noyon. 

and  gradually  works  outward  till  every  part  is  reached.  The 
new  principle  is  first  seen  operating  imperfectly  in  the  diminu- 
tive vaults  of  Morienval ;  it  works  with  more  sureness  in  the 
vaulting  of  Bury,  Berzy-le-Sec,  and  other  small  buildings ;  then 
in  the  high  vaults  of  St.  Germer,  Noyon,  and  Senlis,  it  makes 
further  advances  and  creates  for  itself  an  appropriate  system 
of  supports;  and  thus  it  moves  on,  as  we  shall  see,  in  this 
creative  fashion  until  the  full  development  is  accomplished. 


Ill  GOTHIC  CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE  99 

What  was  the  precise  mode  of  buttressing  the  high  vaults 
of  Senlis  we  have  now  no  means  of  knowing.  The  existing 
flying  buttresses  belong  to  the  flamboyant  reconstruction  of  the 
clerestory.  It  is  possible  that  flying  buttresses  may  have  sprung 
over  the  aisle  roofs,  but  it  seems  more  probable  that  if  any  such 
abutments  were  employed  they  were  concealed  beneath  these 
roofs  ;  for  the  springing  of  the  vaults  was  at  a  comparatively  low 
level,  as  is  shown  (Figs.  39  and  40)  by  the  capitals  which  remain 
in  place. ^  Moreover,  the  piers  are  as  yet  almost  heavy  enough 
to  have  resisted  the  vault  pressures  without  other  reenforcement 
than  that  which  is  afforded  by  the  triforium  vaulting. 

The  choir  of  the  Abbey  Church  of  St.-Germain-des-Pres  of 
Paris  (Fig.  43),  which  was  consecrated  in  1 163,  and  is  therefore 
nearly  contemporaneous  with  Noyon  and  Senlis,  is  another  mon- 
ument of  the  highest  interest  in  connection  with  the  early  Gothic 
development.  This  choir  remains  intact,  with  exception  of  a 
deplorable  alteration  in  the  clerestory  and  triforium,  both  within 
and  without.  The  system  is  uniform,  the  vaults  are  excessively 
domical,  and  the  piers  are  like  those  of  the  choir  of  Noyon  in 
having  single  round  columns  on  the  ground  story  with  the 
vaulting  shafts  rising  from  their  capitals.  There  are  three 
vaulting  shafts  on  each  pier,  which  carry  the  transverse  and 
diagonal  ribs,  while  the  longitudinal  ribs  rest  on  corbels  {a,  Fig. 
43)  placed  above  the  impost  of  the  clerestory  opening.  The 
early  builders  made  many  trials  before  they  reached  a  satisfac- 
tory arrangement  of  supports  for  the  ribs  of  the  vaulting.  The 
earliest  vaults,  often  having  no  longitudinal  ribs,  required  but 
three  vaulting  shafts  —  as  in  the  nave  of  Bury  (Fig.  23,  p.  6"]^ 
The  designer  of  the  piers  of  the  choir  of  St.  Germer  followed 
the  same  model,  but  instead  of  springing  the  diagonal  ribs  from 
the  lateral  shafts  he  sprung  them,  as  we  have  seen  (Fig.  30, 
p.  ^6),  from  a  corbel,  because  he  wished  to  use  these  shafts  for 
the  support  of  the  longitudinal  ribs  which  were  here  inserted. 
After  this  in  general,  during  the  second  half  of  the  twelfth 
century,  the  shaft  group  is  either  made  to  consist  of  five 
members,  one  for  each  rib  of  the  vault,  as  in  the  main  piers  of 
Senlis ;  or  else  the  longitudinal  rib  is  carried  by  a  short  shaft 
resting  on  the  clerestory  string,  as,  indeed,  it  is  in  St.  Germer, 

^The  original  capitals  remain  in  place  in  the  easternmost  piers  only. 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


though  this  short  shaft  is  imperfectly  supported  by  the  lateral 
shaft  of  the  main  vaulting  group.  The  springing  of  the  longi- 
tudinal rib  from  a  corbel  without  any  shaft  at  all,  as  here  in 
St.-Germain-des-Pres,  is  rare. 


Fig.  43.  —  St.  Germain-des-Fres. 

A  curious  and  unusually  puzzling  mixture  of  round  and 
pointed  arches  occurs  in  the  structural  parts  of  this  choir.  The 
longitudinal  ribs  of  the  high  vault,  the  ground-story  archivolts, 
and  the  transverse  ribs  of  the  aisle  vaulting  are  round,  while  the 


XII  GOTHIC  CONSTRUCTION-  IN  FRANCE  loi 

transverse  ribs  of  the  high  vaults,  the  transverse  ribs  of  the  aisle 
chapels,  and  the  window  openings  of  the  clerestory  are  pointed. 
Thus  to  retain  the  round  form  in  a  structural  arch  where  the 
pointed  form  would  have  done  better,  while  the  pointed  form  is 
employed  without  any  structural  reason,  seems  a  curious  con- 
tradiction of  the  logical  spirit  that  is  generally  so  marked  in  the 
works  of  the  early  Gothic  builders.  But  notwithstanding  this 
the  choir  of  St.-Germain-des-Pres  is  far  advanced  in  Gothic  form 
not  only  in  its  internal  system,  but  also  in  its  exterior ;  for  here 
we  have  not  only  the  pointed  arch  in  the  clerestory  openings, 
but  (as  shown  in  Fig.  43),  the  true  flying  buttress  springing 
over  the  aisle  roof. 

The  parts  of  the  buildings  thus  far  noticed  have  been,  for 
the  most  part,  choirs  and  east  ends.  The  naves  were  generally 
constructed  later;  though  in  most  cases  they  were  built  soon 
after  the  choirs  were  completed.  While  many  minor  puzzles  are 
presented  by  the  respective  features  of  these  early  buildings 
which,  in  the  absence  of  written  records,  often  prevent  an  exact 
determination  of  their  chronological  relationships,  yet  there  can 
be  little  doubt  that  such  constructions  as  St.  Evremond  of  Creil, 
the  nave  of  St.-Germer-de-Fly,  the  vaulting  of  the  nave  of  St. 
Etienne  of  Beauvais,  and  the  naves  of  Noyon  and  Senlis  fol- 
lowed closely  after  the  works  already  mentioned.  St.  Evremond, 
St.  Germer,  and  St.  Etienne  have  regular  systems  with  oblong 
quadripartite  vaults,  while  the  naves  of  Noyon  and  Senlis  have 
alternate  systems,  and  had  originally  sexpartite  vaulting.  In 
St.  Evremond  the  ponderous  character  of  Romanesque  work 
survives,  though  the  interior  has  all  the  essential  members  and 
dispositions  of  a  Gothic  design.  The  crowns  of  the  vaulting 
arches  are  all  at  nearly  the  same  level,  and  each  rib  has  its  own 
supporting  shaft  in  the  pier^  as  in  the  main  piers  of  Senlis. 
Like  most  other  transitional  monuments,  St.  Evremond  has  no 
Gothic  character  externally,  but  under  the  aisle  roof  are  con- 
cealed flying  buttresses  like  those  of  the  choir  of  St.  Germer.^ 

1  Except  in  the  easternmost  bay  (which  appears  somewhat  earlier  than  the  rest 
of  the  work),  where  the  diagonal  rib  interpenetrates  the  transverse  rib  so  that  both 
together  rest  on  the  central  shaft,  while  the  lateral  shafts,  of  which  there  are  but  two, 
carry  the  longitudinal  ribs. 

^  St.  Evremond  is  a  precious  monument  of  transitional  Gothic,  though  it  has 
suffered  greatly  from  neglect  and  violence.     It  has  not,  however,   been  injured  by 


102  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

The  earliest  extant  Gothic  nave  on  a  large  scale  is,  perhaps, 
that  of  St.  Germer.  Its  character  seems  to  indicate  that  it  followed 
immediately  after  the  completion  of  the  choir  and  transept.  Its 
date  cannot,  therefore,  be  far  from  the  middle  of  the  twelfth 
century.^  Its  oblong  vaults  are  substantially  like  the  vault  of 
the  choir  already  described  (p.  74),  but  the  piers  are  more  devel- 
oped, having,  as  in  St.  Evremond,  a  shaft  from  the  pavement 
for  each  rib.  Such  a  pier  is  merely  an  amplification  of  the  type 
(Fig.  45,  p.  105)  employed  in  St.  Etienne  of  Beauvais,  having  an 
added  member  on  each  side  to  carry  the  longitudinal  rib  — 
which  in  the  primitive  vaulting  of  St.  Etienne  was  doubtless 
absent,  as  it  is  in  the  still  extant  vaulting  of  the  aisles  of  the  same 
building.  The  piers  of  St.  Germer  are  majestic  in  appearance 
as  well  as  logical  in  composition,  but  they  are  very  massive,  and 
a  more  compact  form  had  to  be  devised  before  the  Gothic  system 
could  reach  its  fullest  distinctive  character. 

It  has  been  suggested^  that  St.  Etienne  of  Beauvais  was 
probably  the  prototype  of  St.  Germer,  and  a  comparison  of  the 
two  naves  seems  to  confirm  this  view.  But,  as  we  shall  pres- 
ently see,  some  of  the  features  of  St.  Germer  probably  did  not 
exist  in  the  original  design  of  St.  Etienne.  They  seem  to  have 
been  inserted  at  a  period  considerably  later  than  that  of  the 
primitive  construction.  So  that  if,  in  the  first  instance,  St. 
Germer  was  derived  from  St.  Etienne,  St.  Etienne  may  have 
been  afterwards  remodelled  in  imitation  of  St.  Germer.  The 
internal  system  of  the  nave  of  St.  Germer  is,  for  the  most  part, 
perfectly  Gothic  in  principle ;  but,  as  in  the  choir,  no  Gothic 
character  whatever  appears  in  the  exterior.  Even  the  concealed 
flying  buttresses  are  wanting  here.  The  builders  appear  to 
have  felt  that  the  structure  was  massive  enough  to  be  secure 

alteration,  or  so-called  restoration.  It  is,  in  fact,  a  ruin,  and  has  been  for  some  time 
used  as  a  manufactory  of  porcelain  ware.  The  gases  from  the  chemicals  used  in  the 
processes  of  this  manufacture  have  disintegrated  the  masonry  of  the  interior,  so  that 
many  of  the  details  on  the  ground  story  are  effaced.  Many  other  buildings  in  this 
region,  of  great  importance  in  the  history  of  the  early  Gothic  development,  have  suf- 
fered in  like  manner  from  neglect  and  abuse.  The  charming  little  Church  of  Noel  St. 
Martin  has  long  been  abandoned  and  is  falling  into  a  state  of  ruin,  and  the  beautiful 
Church  of  St.  Frambourg  of  Senlis  has  been  as  much  injured  as  St.  Evremond,  and  has 
long  been  used  as  a  storage  house. 

1  Cf.  Eng.  Lefevre-Pontalis,  "  Etude  sur  la  Date  de  I'Eglise  de  Saint-Germer," 
BibliotKeque  de  P Ecole  des  Charles,  vol.  xlvi. 

-  Cf.  M.  Lefevre-Pontalis,  Ibid.,  p.  493. 


Ill  GOTHIC   CONSTRUCTION-  IN  FRANCE 


103 


without  them,  and  although  only  the  two  easternmost  compart- 
ments of  the  vaulting  have  survived,  it  does  not  appear  that  the 
destruction  of  the  others,  which  occurred  in  the  year  1400,^  was 
occasioned  by  any  material  yielding  of  the  piers. 

St.  Germer  seems  originally  to  have  possessed  one  feature 
that  is  rare  in  France,  namely,  a  western  transept.  Its  former 
existence  is  plainly  indicated  by  the  great  crossing  piers,  two  of 
which  still  stand  and  are  exposed  to  view  in  the  curious  piece 
of  patchwork  that  makes  up  the  existing  west  fagade.  These, 
like  the  crossing  piers  of  the  eastern  transept,  have  clustered 
shafts  that  rise  from  the  pavement  and  still  carry  portions  of 
the  great  crossing  arches  in  three  orders,  and  of  the  diagonal 
ribs  which  were  ornamented  in  a  manner  similar  to  those  of  the 
apse.  In  the  lateral  bays  of  this  patched-up  front  the  archivolts 
of  the  aisles  and  of  the  triforium  gallery  still  appear  where  they 
formerly  opened  into  this  western  transept.  Such  transepts  were 
not  uncommon  in  the  Rhenish  Romanesque  churches,  but  they 
were  uncommon  in  France.''^ 

St.  Germer  seems  to  have  had  considerable  influence  on  the 
subsequent  architecture  of  its  vicinity.  This  influence  is  shown 
in  the  neighbouring  Church  of  St.  Hildevert  of  Gournay  —  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  of  transitional  buildings.  St.  Hildevert 
was  originally  a  Romanesque  structure  with  a  choir  designed 
like  the  nave  of  St.-Germain-des-Pres  of  Paris,^  but  it  was 
remodelled  in  the  early  Gothic  time.  The  remodelling  must 
have  taken  place  soon  after  the  completion,  if  not  during 
the  progress,  of  the  nave  of  St.  Germer,  which,  in  many 
parts  of  the  work,  it  closely  resembles.  The  scale  of  St. 
Hildevert  is  smaller,  it  has  no  triforium  gallery,  but  many 
of  the  structural  forms,  the  types  of  capitals,  and  the  profil- 
ing of  the  mouldings,  are  almost  identical ;  and  the  piers  are 
composed  in  the  manner  of  those  of  the  choir  of  St.  Germer, 

1  Ibid. 

2  Viollet-le-Duc,  s.v.  Transept,  vol.  ix.  p.  236,  remarks  that  western  transepts  are 
found  only  in  the  eastern  provinces  of  France,  as  in  the  cathedrals  of  Verdun  and 
Besangon. 

^  The  south  aisle  retains  two  bays  of  the  original  Romanesque  structure.  They 
are  vaulted  with  groin  vaults  on  the  Roman  principle,  and  have  square  piers  with 
engaged  shafts  like  those  of  the  nave  of  St.-Germain-des-Pres.  A  group  of  shafts  to 
carry  the  Gothic  vaulting  has  replaced  the  original  single  shaft  on  the  choir  side;  but 
these  two  bays  retain  their  primitive  round  archivolts. 


104 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


having  but  three  shafts  from  the  pavement,  with  the  shafts  of 
the  longitudinal  ribs  brought  down  to  the  triforium  ledge 
(Fig.  44).  The  lateral  vaulting  capitals  are  set  diagonally,  and 
the  diagonal  ribs,  as  well  as  the  transverse  and  longitudinal  ribs, 

are  pointed.  The  thrusts  of  the 
vaulting  are  met  by  heavy  walls 
^j.j  and  piers  (which  seem  to  be  those 
of  the  original  Romanesque  works) 
without  reenforcement  by  flying  but- 
tresses. Although  it  has  the  appear- 
ance of  a  remodelled  interior,  this 
choir  of  Gournay  is  a  beautiful  work 
of  art ;  and  the  Gothic  portions  of  it 
are  wrought  with  the  mechanical  pre- 
cision that  is  rarely  wanting  in  the 
French  monuments  of  the  early 
period. 

The  vaulting  of  the  nave  of  St. 
Etienne  of  Beauvais  ( Fig.  45)  appears 
to  have  been  reconstructed  in  the 
Gothic  form  some  time  after  the 
middle  of  the  twelfth  century.  Here, 
as  at  Gournay,  the  diagonal  ribs  are 
pointed,  and  the  vaults  are  well  ad- 
justed to  the  Romanesque  substruc- 
ture—  which,  as  before  remarked 
(p.  52),  is  far  advanced  in  organic 
design.  Since,  apparently,  no  longi- 
tudinal rib  was  used  in  the  primitive 
vaulting,  and  consequently  no  shaft 
for  such  a  rib  was  incorporated  in 
the  group  of  the  vaulting  shafts,  the 
longitudinal  rib  of  this  Gothic  vault- 
ing is  placed  on  a  small  shaft  in  the 
clerestory,  which  is  supported  by  a 
part  of  the  capital  that  carries  the 
diagonal  rib.  This  mode  of  supporting  the  longitudinal  rib 
was  much  employed  during  the  second  half  of  the  twelfth 
century,  as,  for  example,  in  the  Cathedral  of  Paris.  At  the 
time  of  the  reconstruction  of  the  vaulting  other  changes  appear 


Fig.  44.  —  Gournay. 


Ill 


GOTHIC   CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE 


los 


to  have  been  made.     Among  these  was  the  introduction  of  the 
triforium  arcade  substantially  reproducing  that  of  St.  Germer. 


F]G.  45.  —  St.  Eiicnne,  Bcauvais. 

That  this  triforium  was   an  interpolation   there  can  hardly  be 
a  doubt ;  for  the  easternmost  bay  of  the   nave,  which  is  more 


io6  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

archaic  in  character  than  the  rest  of  the  work  and  seems  plainly 
to  retain  its  primitive  design,  has  no  triforium.  The  preserva- 
tion of  this  bay  in  an  unaltered  state  is  due,  it  may  be  reason- 
ably assumed,  to  its  position  adjoining  the  transept,  where  it 
would  naturally  be  thought  unsafe  to  break  the  wall  with  a 
large  opening.  The  other  bays  of  the  primitive  nave  were 
unquestionably  all  like  this  one  in  having  no  triforium  openings.^ 
A  further  confirmation  of  the  belief  that  this  triforium  arcade 
was  inserted  at  a  period  subsequent  to  that  of  the  original  work 
is  afforded  by  the  manner  in  which  it  is  fitted  into  the  space  it 
occupies.  The  space  beneath  the  original  clerestory  string 
(still  undisturbed  in  the  easternmost  bay)  was  too  low  to  allow 
the  use  of  an  arch  of  full  semicircular  form.  A  low  segmental 
arch  is  therefore  employed.  But  even  with  this  form  enough 
room  for  the  opening  could  not  be  obtained  without  arching  the 
clerestory  string  over  its  crown  (Fig.  45).  It  will  be  noticed, 
moreover,  that  the  profiling  of  the  clerestory  string  over  the 
arches  is  different  from  that  of  the  string  in  the  older  bay ; 
and  that  this  older  bay  has  no  triforium  string  while  the  other 
bays  have  such  a  string  profiled  like  that  of  the  clerestory. 
Still  further,  the  facing  and  jointing  of  the  masonry  correspond 
with  the  work  in  the  vaulting  and  not  with  the  older  work, 
while  the  style  of  the  capitals  and  bases  conforms  with  that 
of  the  vaulting  capitals,  which  were  plainly  inserted  when  the 
vaulting  was  remodelled  —  as  a  comparison  of  them  with  the 
single  older  one  in  the  primitive  bay  will  show.  It  thus  would 
seem  that  while  St.  Germer  was  an  amplification  of  the  original 
design  of  St.  Etienne,  St.  Etiennc  was  in  turn  remodelled  after 
the  improved  scheme  of  St.  Germer.  By  such  remodellings  of 
older  work,  as  well  as  by  entirely  new  constructions,  were  the 
Gothic  forms  in  France  gradually  established. 

The  nave  of  Noyon,  built  some  time  subsequent  to  the  choir 
of  the  same  church  already  noticed,  exhibits  a  fuller  apprehen- 
sion of  the  possibilities  of  the  new  system  than  any  pre- 
ceding work  that  has  come  down  to  us  intact.  In  the  slender 
proportions  of  its  piers,  in  the  magnitude  of  its  openings,  and  in 

1  Triforium  openings  are  rare  during  the  early  part  of  the  twelfth  century  except 
in  large  churches  where  the  triforium  is  a  vaulted  gallery.  Thus  there  are  no  tri- 
forium openings  in  Gournay,  in  Bury,  or  in  Cambroune.  They  occur,  however,  in 
the  nave  of  Poissv. 


Ill  GOTHIC   COiVSTRO'CT/OAT  IN  FRANCE  107 

the  style  of  its  details  it  is  hardly  surpassed  by  any  monument 
of  the  twelfth  century.  This  nave,  like  that  of  Senlis,  was 
originally  covered  with  sexpartite  vaulting,  for  which  its  pier 
system  was  plainly  designed.  The  most  logical  portion  consists 
of  the  three  easternmost  bays.  In  these  bays  the  main  piers 
have  each  the  five  vaulting  shafts  that  are  necessary  to  support 
the  transverse,  the  diagonal,  and  the  longitudinal  ribs.  In  the 
remaining  bays  the  system  is  lightened  by  the  omission,  in  the 
pier  group,  of  the  shaft  of  the  longitudinal  rib  —  this  rib  being 
carried,  as  at  St.  Etienne  of  Beauvais,  on  a  short  shaft  in  the 
clerestory  resting  on  a  portion  of  the  capital  that  bears  the  di- 
agonal rib.  The  piers  of  the  eastern  bays  exhibit  a  peculiarity 
that  we  have  not  hitherto  met  with ;  namely,  the  third  order  of 
shafts  in  the  vaulting  group  (whose  function  is  to  carry  the 
longitudinal  ribs)  do  not  terminate  at  the  main  impost  level.  In 
Senlis  (Fig.  40)  this  shaft  reaches  no  higher  than  those  which 
support  the  larger  ribs  of  the  vault.  But  the  longitudinal  ribs  of 
Gothic  vaults  over  a  clerestory  always  (as  we  shall  see  farther 
on)  spring  from  a  higher  level.  This  level  was  in  Senlis,  as  in 
St.  Etienne  of  Beauvais,  the  cathedral  of  Paris,  and  many  other 
monuments  of  both  earlier  and  later  date,  reached  by  the  short 
shaft  before  mentioned,  which  is  set  on  the  capital  of  the  lower 
vaulting  shaft.  Here  at  Noyon,  however,  the  lower  shaft  does 
not  end  with  a  capital  at  the  main  impost,  but  is  prolonged  to 
the  much  higher  point  from  which  the  longitudinal  rib  springs. 
Thus  the  modes  of  adjusting  the  vaulting  shafts  to  the  ribs  of 
the  vaulting  were  very  various  from  the  first,  and  we  shall  have 
occasion  to  consider  them  further  in  the  next  chapter. 

In  Noyon  we  apparently  have  the  first,  in  Gothic  form,  of 
those  splendid  vaulted  triforium  galleries  which  reach  their 
grandest  development  in  the  Cathedral  of  Paris.  The  general 
form  of  the  opening  in  this  gallery  is  like  that  of  St.  Germer, 
with  pointed  arches  substituted  for  round  ones.  It  is  propor- 
tionally a  larger  opening,  its  supports  are  more  slender,  and  the 
effect  of  the  whole  is  more  elegant.  The  piercing  of  the  tym- 
panum here  takes  the  form  of  a  trefoil  without  ornaments. 
Over  this  gallery  is  a  second  triforium  passageway  with  a 
diminutive  shafted  arcade  of  round  arches. 

In  Noyon  and  Senlis  we  have  the  sexpartite  Gothic  system, 
in  its  early  form;  in  the  great  cathedrals  of  Paris  and  Laon, 


io8  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

which  quickly  followed,  we  shall  find  this  system  still  more 
grandly  carried  out. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  monuments  thus  far  examined 
show  that  the  oblong  quadripartite  ribbed  vault  was  the  earliest, 
and  the  most  prevalent,  form  of  Gothic  vault.  The  belief  that 
the  sexpartite  form  was  first  developed,  and  that  it  was  gradu- 
ally superseded  by  the  quadripartite,  does  not  appear  correct.^ 
In  one  of  the  most  beautiful  structures  of  this  early  epoch,  the 
choir  of  the  Abbey  Church  of  St.  Leu  d'Esserent,  the  two  forms 
occur  side  by  side  and  are  contemporaneous.  The  whole  of 
this  part  of  St.  Leu  has  survived  in  good  condition.  The 
triforium  is  a  noticeable  feature  of  this  design.  It  is  no  longer 
a  vaulted  gallery,  but  an  elegant  arcaded  passageway  —  one 
of  the  earliest  examples  of  the  true  Gothic  triforium  of  the 
type  that  is  so  richly,  but  hardly  more  beautifully,  carried  out 
in  the  nave  of  Amiens.  In  this  monument,  too,  we  have  again 
an  external  system  of  flying  buttresses.  St.  Leu  is  thus  one  of 
the  earliest  extant  monuments  in  which  the  new  structural 
elements  are  found  complete,  and  the  pointed  arch  is  used 
throughout,  in  both  interior  and  exterior. 

It  will  be  observed  that  each  of  the  buildings  which  we 
examine  has  characteristics  peculiar  to  itself.  These  various 
peculiarities  show  a  degree  of  individual  independence  in  the 
builders  that  is  no  less  striking  than  the  common  allegiance 
to  the  leading  idea  which  was,  day  by  day,  gaining  distinctness, 
and  was  rapidly  transforming  the  art  of  building.  We  have 
in  this  chapter  been  concerned  with  the  beginnings  of  Gothic. 
We  may  now,  in  the  next  chapter,  consider  the  leading  struc- 
tural forms  of  the  larger  monuments  of  the  latter  part  of  the 
twelfth  century  and  the  beginning  of  the  century  following  — 
the  vast  cathedrals  of  Paris,  Laon,  Chartres,  Amiens,  Reims, 

^  Viollet-le-Duc,  s.v.  Construction,  p.  103,  refers  to  sexpartite  vaults  as  con- 
structed "  suivant  la  methode  des  premiers  constructures  gothiques."  In  the  same 
article,  p.  34,  he  speaks  of  the  porch  of  Vezelay,  with  its  oblong  vaults  without  groin 
ribs,  as  the  first  monument  of  transition,  and  supposes  that  the  next  step  of  progress 
consisted  in  reverting  to  the  square  compartment  with  the  insertion  of  the  inter- 
mediate transverse  rib  in  addition  to  groin  ribs  producing  the  sexpartite  vault,  and 
remarks  :  "  Ce  sont  1^  des  vofttes  primitive  dites  en  arcs  d^cgive."  But  when  this  early 
part  of  the  Dictionnaire  was  written  the  author  was  breaking  ground.  The  numer- 
ous small  buildings  of  the  Ile-de-France  which  so  clearly  exhibit  the  early  Gothic 
vault  development  had  then  been  little  studied. 


Ill  GOTHIC   CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE  109 

and  others,  in  which  the  highest  developments  were  reached  — 
both  structural  and  artistic.  At  the  same  time  we  shall  have 
to  give  some  further  attention  to  the  earlier  and  smaller  edifices 
—  following  the  steps  of  progress  in  the  leading  parts  from  their 
rudimentary  to  their  ultimate  forms. 


CHAPTER   IV 

GOTHIC   CONSTRUCTION   IN   FRANCE 

IL    Later  Structural  Developments 

We  have  seen  that  in  the  primitive  Gothic  both  the  oblong 
quadripartite  and  the  sexpartite  forms  of  vaidting  occur  con- 
temporaneously, but  that  the  quadripartite  form  is  apparently 
the  earlier.  It  is  true,  however,  that  in  the  older  cathedrals  the 
sexpartite  vault  is  the  more  common ;  and  since  our  ideas  of  the 
Gothic  style  have  hitherto  been  mainly  derived  from  the  cathe- 
drals, it  is  not  strange  that  this  form  of  vault  should  have  been 
regarded  as  the  more  primitive.  With  the  closer  study  of  the 
smaller  extant  monuments,  in  which  the  real  beginnings  of  the 
style  may  be  traced,  this  misconception,  as  well  as  some  others, 
respecting  Gothic  art  will  be  dispelled. 

Of  the  greater  cathedrals  the  one  in  which  the  Gothic  princi- 
ples were  first  distinctly  and  systematically  carried  out  is  that 
of  Paris.  This  wonderful  monument,  notwithstanding  all  that 
it  has  suffered  from  violence  and  so-called  restoration,  exists 
to-day  in  almost  complete  structural  integrity.^  Here  is  a  vast 
nave  so  admirably  roofed  with  stone  that  the  work  has  lasted 
intact  2  for  seven  hundred  years,  and  will  probably,  if  not  wan- 
tonly injured,  last  for  centuries  to  come.  These  vaults  are  sex- 
partite, and  being  nearly  contemporaneous  with  the  original 
vaults  of  the  nave  of  Noyon,  they  doubtless  show,  in  the 
main,  how  these  last  appeared.  The  diagonal  ribs  are  round- 
arched,  while  the  transverse  and  longitudinal  ribs  are  pointed. 

^  Notre  Dame  of  Paris  not  only  remains  structurally  in  substantial  perfection, 
but  it  also  retains  a  large  part  of  its  original  sculpture.  Internally  the  carving  of  all 
the  capitals,  except  a  few  of  those  on  the  ground  story,  is  the  genuine  work  of  the 
twelfth  century;  while  of  the  exterior  the  carvings  of  the  tympanums  (except  a  part 
of  the  central  one),  the  archi volts,  and  large  portions  of  the  jambs  of  the  great  portals 
remain,  for  the  most  part,  as  originally  executed. 

^  The  vaults  of  the  choir  are  perfectly  sound  ;  those  of  the  nave  have  required 
some  slight  repairs  since  their  partial  reconstruction  early  in  the  thirteenth  century. 

no 


CHAP.  IV  GOTHIC   COXSTRUCTIO.V  hV  FRAXCE  iii 

The  intermediate  transverse  ribs  are,  however,  pointed  but 
slightly ;  and  to  bring  their  crowns  up  to  the  level  of  the  inter- 
section of  the  diagonals  they  are  considerably  stilted.  The 
crowns  of  the  main  transverse  ribs  are  a  little  lower  than  those 
of  the  diagonals,  and  those  of  the  longitudinals  are  lower  still. 
The  vaults  have,  therefore,  a  distinctly  domical  form.  These 
various  adjustments,  by  greater  or  less  pointing,  stilting,  and 
even  by  the  retention  of  the  round  arch  where  it  will  serve  best, 
exhibit  the  flexibility  of  the  Gothic  system  in  an  interesting  and 
instructive  manner.  In  vaults  of  this  form  the  lateral  cells  are, 
as  I  have  already  (p.  48)  remarked,  necessarily  oblique  to  the 
axis  of  the  nave,  and  their  surfaces  assume  shapes  that  are  dif- 
ficult to  describe.  Irregularity  of  surface  is  a  constant  and 
necessary  characteristic  of  Gothic  vaults  —  even  of  those  of  the 
quadripartite  form.-  Such  vaults  never  have  the  shape  of  simple 
intersecting  pointed  vaults.  Their  forms  cannot  be  described 
in  geometric  terms ;  they  vary  in  shape  according  to  the  spans, 
the  altitudes,  the  curves,  and  the  springing  levels  of  the  arches 
that  compose  the  rib  system.  Hence  it  is  by  the  forms  and 
relations  of  these  arches  chiefly  that  they  must  be  described. 
In  the  vaults  of  Paris,  as  in  all  Gothic  vaults,  the  shells  con- 
sist of  successive  courses  of  masonry  which  are  slightly  arched 
from  rib  to  rib  over  each  triangular  cell.  The  beds  of  these 
successive  courses  are  not  parallel,  but  are  variously  inclined 
according  as  the  mason  found  necessary  or  convenient  in  devel- 
oping the  concave  and  winding  surfaces  engendered  by  the 
forms  and  positions  of  the  ribs  to  which  they  had  to  be  accommo- 
dated. These  courses  of  masonry  have  here  in  Paris,  as  they 
have  in  most  Gothic  vaults,  a  considerable  inclination  near  the 
springing  from  the  longitudinal  rib  upw'ard  toward  the  diagonal, 
and  they  become  gradually  more  level  as  they  approach  the 
crown  of  vault  where  they  are  more  nearly  parallel.  But  per- 
fectly parallel  they  can  hardly  ever  be,  since  each  course  forms 
a  portion  of  a  surface  that  is  concaved  in  all  directions.  In  the 
early  and  finest  Gothic  vaultings  this  masonry  is  compased  of 
small  stones  perfectly  faced  and  closely  jointed ;  and  the  vault- 
ing of  Paris,  especially  that  of  the  choir,  is  a  model  of  careful 
and  finished  workmanship. 

The  shafts  which  sustain  this  vaulting  rise  from  the  capitals 
of  the  great  cylindrical  columns  of  the  ground  story,  and  are 


112  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

remarkably  slender,  though  well  proportioned  for  their  func- 
tion. In  the  external  system  the  flying  buttresses  were,  as  first 
constructed,  magnificently  developed,  and  were  double  in  a  two- 
fold sense. ^  That  is,  the  piers  which  divide  the  double  aisles 
were  formerly  carried  up  through  the  roof  so  as  to  form  but- 
tresses to  the  vaulted  triforium  gallery,  and,  rising  above  the 
roof  of  this  gallery,  they  received  the  heads  of  the  double  flying 
buttresses  over  the  outer  aisle,  and  gave  foothold  to  another 
pair  of  arches  over  the  triforium  gallery.  The  lower  arch  of 
the  outer  pair  was  above  the  aisle  roof,  while  the  lower  arch 
of  the  inner  pair  was  beneath  the  roof  of  the  triforium.  The 
principle  of  equilibrium  maintained  by  opposing  thrusts  was 
here  completely  developed ;  the  inert  principle  no  longer  gov- 
erns the  construction,  though  a  survival  of  the  former  method 
of  building  is  found  in  the  walls  of  the  aisles  and  clerestory, 
which  are  no  longer  necessary  to  the  strength  of  the  edifice. 
The  maximum  of  space  for  circulation  and  for  prospect  was 
secured  by  largely  reducing  the  bulk  of  the  supporting  mem- 
bers, and  if  the  maximum  of  area  in  the  external  openings  was 
not  yet  reached  it  was  only  because  the  idea  of  developing  such 
openings  to  the  utmost  had  not  yet  occurred  to  the  minds  of 
the  builders. 

One  marked  peculiarity  of  the  Cathedral  of  Paris  is  that  its 
piers  are  not  functionally  adapted  to  the  sexpartite  form  of 
vaulting  employed.  The  adjustments  of  the  piers  to  the  vaults 
are  here  just  the  reverse  of  that  which  we  find  in  the  nave  of 
Noyon,  where  the  system  of  supports,  fashioned  on  the  alter- 
nate principle  logically  demanded  by  sexpartite  vaulting,  is  now- 
covered  with  vaults  of  oblong  quadripartite  form.  It  would 
seem  that  in  Paris  quadripartite  vaults  must  have  been  intended 
when  the  plan  was  laid  out,  and  that,  for  some  now  unknown 
reason,  the  sexpartite  form  was  adopted  after  the  structure  had 
been  carried  up  to  the  springing ;  for  up  to  this  level  the  sys- 
tem is  uniform.  The  ground-story  columns  are  all  of  equal 
magnitude,  and  each  of  them  carries  a  group  of  three  vaulting 
shafts.     The  incongruity  thus  presented,  in  the  naves  of  Paris 

^  The  existing  flying  buttresses  of  the  Cathedral  of  Paris  consist  of  vast  arches 
which  clear  both  aisles  with  a  single  span.  These,  however,  are  alterations  dating 
from  the  early  part  of  the  thirteenth  century.  Cf.  Viollet-le-Duc,  s.v.  Cathedrale, 
p.  2S8. 


IV  GOTHIC  CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE  113 

and  Noyon  respectively,  between  the  forms  of  the  vaults  and 
the  forms  and  adjustments  of  their  supports,  constitutes  a  seri- 
ous defect  in  each  of  these  otherwise  noble  structures,  as  they 
have  come  down  to  us,  —  a  defect  which  so  contradicts  the  logic 
of  the  Gothic  system  as  to  leave  little  doubt  that  it  was  in  each 
case  the  result  of  a  change  from  the  original  project.  The 
change  was  apparently  wrought  in  Noyon  at  a  time  but  little 
subsequent  to  that  of  the  original  construction,  and  in  Paris 
when  the  structure  had  reached  the  height  of  the  springing  of 
the  vaults.-^ 

But  in  the  Cathedral  of  Paris,  though  the  same  general 
incongruity  exists  in  both  choir  and  nave,  there  is  a  marked 
difference  in  the  forms  and  adjustments  of  their  respective 
vaulting  systems.  In  the  choir  (the  whole  of  which,  with 
exception  of  slight  restorations  on  the  ground  story,  and  the 
enlargement,  during  the  early  part  of  the  thirteenth  century,  of 
the  clerestory  openings,  is  the  original  work  that  was  begun  in 
the  year  1163)^  the  vaulting  shafts  rise  from  the  capitals  of  the 
cylindrical  columns  of  the  ground  story  and  are  varied  in  their 
magnitudes  in  conformity  with  the  weight  and  bulk  of  their  re- 
spective loads.  They  are  built  up  in  courses  of  small  stones, 
are  engaged  with  the  pier,  and  the  central  one  is  incorporated 
with  a  pilaster  in  the  manner  that  had  been  prevalent  in  earlier 
constructions.  In  the  piers  which  carry  the  main  vaulting  ribs, 
a  transverse  rib  and  two  diagonals,  the  vaulting  capitals  of  these 
shafts  are  all  on  the  same  level.  The  central  capital  supporting 
the  transverse  rib  is  set  square  with  the  wall,  while  the  lateral 
ones  are  set  obliquely  in  the  directions  of  the  diagonal  ribs  which 
they  carry.^     These  lateral  capitals  support,  besides  the  diago- 

1  M.  VioUet-le-Duc,  s.v.  Construction,  p.  164,  remarks  that  the  ill  adjustment  of 
the  piers  to  the  vaults  in  the  Cathedral  of  Paris  had  long  puzzled  him,  but  that  close 
investigation  at  length  showed  him  that  the  necessities  of  the  sexpartite  system  were 
really  met  by  the  monolithic  shafts  which  are  grouped  around  every  alternate  pier  in 
the  series  which  divides  the  aisles.  The  piers  so  reenforced  are  opposite  those  of  the 
nave  which  carry  the  main  ribs  of  the  vaulting.  This,  however,  is  hardly  a  sufficient 
justification  of  the  whole  design  as  it  exists;  for  this  mode  of  reenforcement  does  not 
satisfy  the  eye,  however  adequately  it  may  provide  for  strictly  mechanical  exigencies 
of  the  scheme. 

2  The  date  of  the  construction  of  the  choir  of  the  Cathedral  of  Paris  is  discussed 
by  M.  V.  Mortet  in  his  ^tude  Ilistorique  et  Archeologique  sur  la  Cathedrale  de  Paris, 
Paris,  1888,  p.  41  et  seq. 

^  The  adjustment  of  vaulting  capitals  (established  by  the  Lombard  Romanesque 
I 


114 


GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


nals,  each  a  small  shaft,  which  rises  in  the  clerestory  to  carry 
the  longitudinal  rib  whose  springing  is  at  a  higher  level  —  an 
adjustment  of  great  significance,  as  we  shall  presently  see.  In 
the  intermediate  piers  the  arrangement  at  the  springing  is  dif- 
ferent. In  each  of  these  the  central  shaft  only  has  a  capital 
at  the  level  of  the  springing  of  the  larger  vault  ribs.  The  side 
shafts  rise  above  this  to  the  higher  point  of  springing  of  the 
longitudinal  ribs,  where  they  receive  their  capitals.     Figure  46 


U^ 


'  I 


iJ  A 

Fig.  46.  —  Vaulting  Imposts,  Choir  of  Paris. 

will  illustrate  these  features.  In  this  figure  A  is  the  plan  of 
the  group  of  abaci  of  the  capitals  of  the  main  vaulting  shafts, 
and  the  sections  of  the  three  ribs  which  they  support ;  B  is  the 
plan  of  the  abacus  of  the  intermediate  capital  with  the  section 
of  the  intermediate  rib,  and  the  sections  of  the  side  shafts.  C 
is  a  perspective  elevation  of  the  main  group,  and  D  is  a  perspec- 
tive elevation  of  the  intermediate  group.     It  will  thus  be  seen 


designers  and  followed  by  the  Romanesque  builders  of  France,  as  in  St.  Etienne  of 
Beauvais)  was  the  usual  adjustment  followed  by  the  early  Gothic  architects  so  long 
as  the  vaulting  ribs  retained  a  square  section.  With  a  change  in  the  form  of  the  ribs 
the  manner  of  placing  the  capitals  was  correspondingly  changed  —  as  we  shall  see 
farther  on. 


IV 


GOTHIC   CONSTRUCTIOiV  IN  FRANCE 


"S 


that  here  in  the  choir  the  main  and  the  intermediate  groups 
of  vaulting  shafts  differ  in  accordance  with  their  respective 
functions. 

But  in  the  nave,  which  appears  to  have  been  completed,  all 
except  the  extreme  west  end,  by  about  1196,^  the  imposts  ex- 
hibit no  such  alternation  of  form  in  correspondence  with  the 
demands  of  the  sexpartite  system  of  vaulting.     There  are  here 


O 


O 


[O 


o\ 


Fig.  47.  —  Vaulting  Imposts,  Nave  of  Paris. 

three  capitals  in  each  group  at  the  main  springing  level  (A  and 
B,  Fig.  47),  an  arrangement  which  would  be  suitable  for  a 
uniform  system  with  quadripartite  vaulting,  but  which  is  ill 
adapted  to  the  six-celled  vaults  actually  employed.  For  while 
in  the  main  group  (C,  Fig.  47)  the  abaci  are  fully  utilized,  — 
having  to  support  the  three  principal  ribs  of  the  vault  and 
the  bases  of  the  small  shafts  which  carry  the  longitudinal 
ribs,— the  lateral  abaci  of  the  intermediate  group  have  the 
larger  portions,  e,  in  the  plan  D,  of  their  surfaces  unoccu- 
pied,   since   no    diagonal    ribs   spring  from  this    group.      This 


1  Cf.  Mortet,  Ibid.,  p.  46. 


ii6  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

is  both  illogical  and  unpleasing.  The  only  rib  which  springs 
at  this  level  from  the  impost  B  being  the  intermediate  trans- 
verse rib,  the  central  shaft  which  supports  it  is  the  only  one 
that  requires  a  capital  here.  The  side  shafts  ought  to  rise 
unbroken,  as  they  do  in  the  intermediate  group  of  the  choir, 
to  the  higher  point  of  springing  of  the  longitudinal  ribs.  A 
still  further  defect  of  the  nave  system  is  found  in  the  vault- 
ing shafts  themselves,  which 'are  not  graduated  in  size  in  con- 

_  formity  with  the  unequal  weight 
and  bulk  of  their  respective 
loads,  but  are  all  of  the  same 
magnitude.  They  are,  however, 
remarkable  for  their  slenderness, 
which  is  rendered   possible   by 

Fic    J.8 

their  being  composed  of  only  a 
few  lengths  (in  most  cases  but  five)  of  strong  cliqiiart  standing 
free,  though  close  to  the  pier,  as  shown  in  the  section  Fig.  48. 

In  the  fine  neighbouring  Church  of  Mantes,  a  construction 
contemporaneous  with  Paris,  which  it  much  resembles,  we  have 
another  instance  of  sexpartite  vaulting.  In  this  case  the  vaults 
and  their  supports  are  better  related  to  each  other ;  though  the 
system,  for  the  most  part,  still  fails  to  exhibit  a  perfectly  logical 
embodiment  of  the  sexpartite  idea.  For  while  the  piers  are 
alternately  massive  and  slender,  as  at  Noyon  and  Senlis,  their 
vaulting  shafts  are  not,  as  in  the  earlier  monuments,  alternately 
varied  in  number  in  conformity  with  the  vault  ribs.  They  are 
arranged  in  groups  of  three  in  each  pier.  Those  of  the  main 
piers,  however,  start  from  the  pavement,  while  the  intermediate 
groups  rest  on  the  capitals  of  the  ground-story  piers,  which  are 
single  round  columns.  The  shafts  of  the  main  groups  are  larger 
than  those  of  the  intermediate  groups,  and  each  main  group  has 
the  central  shaft  engaged  with  a  pilaster.  There  are  three  capi- 
tals at  the  main  impost  in  each  pier,  and  the  longitudinal  ribs  are 
supported,  as  in  the  nave  of  Paris,  by  small  shafts  resting  on 
the  lateral  capitals.  The  western  main  pier  of  the  westernmost 
sexpartite  compartment^  is  more  logically  designed.  Here  the 
support  of  the  longitudinal  rib  starts  from  the  triforium  ledge, 


^  The  bay  at  the  extreme  west  end,  between  the  towers,  has  here,  as  in  most  other 
cases,  a  vault  of  the  oblong  quadripartite  form. 


IV 


GOTHIC   CONSTRUCT/ ON  IN  FRANCE 


117 


and  rises  continuously  to  the  level  of  the  springing  of  this  rib 
(Fig.  49).  The  vaulting  shafts  of  the  intermediate  piers  of  this 
compartment  rise,  like  those  of  the  main  piers,  from  the  pave- 
ment. In  the  vaulting  of  Mantes  the  intermediate  transverse 
rib  is  round  arched,  so  that  in  order  to  get  its  crown  up  to  the 
intersection  of  the  diagonals  it  has  to  be  stilted  to  nearly  the 
height  of  the  springing  of  the  longitudinal  rib. 

Sexpartite  vaults  occur  again  in  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Laon,  a  building  also  nearly  contempo- 
raneous^ with  the  nave  of  Paris.  Here  we  meet 
wdth  yet  another  arrangement  of  vault  supports. 
The  ground-story  piers  of  Laon  are,  like  those 
of  Paris,  single  round  columns  whose  capitals 
support  the  vaulting  shafts.  But  instead  of 
three  shafts  in  each  group,  an  arrangement  that 
does  not,  as  we  have  seen,  conform  logically  to 
the  sexpartite  principle,  we  have  here  five  shafts 
in  the  main  groups  and  three  in  those  of  the 
intermediate  piers.  An  independent  support  in 
the  main  system  is  thus  provided  for  each  rib  in 
the  vault  (Fig.  50).  In  other  words,  the  system 
of  Laon  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  choir  of 
Paris,  except  that  the  shafts  which  carry  the 
longitudinal  ribs  rise,  with  the  other  shafts  of 
the  pier,  from  the  ground-story  columns,  and, 
in  both  main  and  intermediate  piers,  pass  up, 
without  capitals  at  the  main  impost  level,  to  the 
springing  of  these  ribs.  The  system  above 
the  ground  story  is  thus  perfectly  logical ;  but 
the  architectural  composition  as  a  whole  is  ren- 
dered somewhat  unsatisfactory  by  the  heaviness 
of  the  shaft  groups  in  comparison  with  the  pro- 
portions of  the  monocylindrical  lower  piers.  It 
should  be  remarked,  however,  that  in  the  two 
westernmost  bays  of  the  choir,  which  are 
the  earliest  and  finest  parts  of  the  structure  as  it  now  exists, 
the  vaulting  shafts  are  more  compactly  grouped,  and  are  less 
heavy  in  effect.      But  in  these  bays  the  shafts  of  the  longi- 

1  Cf.  Quicherat,  "  L'Age  de  la  Cathedrale  de  Laon,"  in  \\\'!>  Melanges  d^ Archeologie 
et  cf  Histoire,  Paris,   i886,  p.  147;   and  Viollet-le-Duc,  s.v.  Cathedrale. 


Fig.  49.  —  Mantes. 


Ii8 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


tudinal  ribs  have  capitals  at  the  main  impost  level,  as  well  as  at 
the  higher  point. 

The  Cathedral  of  Bourges,  constructed  for  the  most  part  dur- 
ing the  first  quarter  of  the  thirteenth  century,  ^  also  has  sexpar- 
tite  vaulting  with  a  peculiar  system  of  supports.  The  piers  are 
gigantic  round  columns  reaching  to  the  springing  level.  Em- 
bedded in  the  spandrels  of  the  ground  story  and  triforium 
arcades,  they  project  beyond  the  surfaces  of  these  last  by  some- 
thing less  than  a  quarter  of  their  bulk.     They  do  not  differ  in 


Fig.  50. —  Imposts  of  Vaulting,  Laon. 

magnitude  in  obedience  to  the  demands  of  the  sexpartite  form 
of  vault,  nor  is  there,  on  the  ground  story,  any  difference  be- 
tween the  main  piers  and  the  intermediate  piers  as  regards  the 
number  and  arrangement  of  the  engaged  shafts  incorporated 
with  them.  Above  the  imposts  of  the  great  arcades,  however, 
the  main  piers  are  furnished  with  additional  shafts  inserted  to 
support  the  diagonal  ribs.  The  shafts  do  not  differ  in  size  in 
accordance  with  their  varying  functions,  nor  are  they  gathered, 
in  the  usual  manner,  into  compact  groups ;  they  are  separated 
by  widely  spaced  intervals  about  the  great  cylindrical  surfaces 


^  Cf.  Viollet-le-Duc,  s.v.   Cathcdrale,  p.  294;    and  s.v.  Architecture,  p.  235. 


IV  GOTHIC   CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE  119 

of  the  columns.  As  at  Laon,  the  main  shafts  only  have  capitals 
where  the  greater  vault  ribs  spring,  the  supports  of  the  longi- 
tudinal ribs  rising  unbroken  to  the  higher  level  of  the  springing 
of  these  ribs.  But  in  one  respect  a  greater  degree  of  Gothic 
consistency  is  reached  in  this  monument  than  in  the  other  large 
cathedrals  thus  far  noticed;  namely,  in  the  continuity  of  the  main 
supports  from  the  pavement  upwards  in  both  main  and  inter- 
mediate piers. 

Another  type  of  sexpartite  construction,  dating  from  the 
second  half  of  the  twelfth  century,  occurs  in  the  Cathedral  of 
Sens.  In  this  case  the  main  piers  are  composed  in  the  older 
manner  of  those  of  Noyon  and  Senlis.  They  have  five  vault- 
ing shafts  against  pilasters  rising  from  the  pavement,  each  of 
which  has  a  capital  at  the  main  impost  level.  The  intermediate 
pier  has  a  pair  of  round  columns  on  the  ground  story,  ranged 
in  a  line  perpendicular  to  the  nave,  with  a  single  vaulting  shaft 
rising  from  the  one  on  the  nave  side  to  carry  the  intermediate 
transverse  rib.  The  small  supports  of  the  longitudinal  ribs 
have  no  connection  with  the  lower  system,  but  rest  indepen- 
dently on  the  clerestory  ledge. 

Some  exceptional  forms  occur  in  the  sexpartite  system  of 
the  easternmost  bay  of  the  choir  of  the  small  Church  of  Gonesse 
(Seine-et-Oise).  Here  the  main  piers  are  of  square  section  with 
a  shaft  let  into  each  angle,  while  a  plain  pilaster  supports  the 
main  transverse  rib,  and  round  shafts  on  either  side  carry  the 
diagonals.  The  intermediate  pier  consists,  on  the  ground  story, 
of  a  pair  of  round  columns,  of  slender  proportions,  set,  like 
those  of  Sens,  in  a  line  perpendicular  to  the  axis  of  the  nave. 

In  Notre  Dame  of  Dijon  single  round  columns,  like  those  of 
Paris,  occur  on  the  ground  story,  but  they  carry  an  alternate 
system  of  vaulting  shafts  appropriately  adjusted  to  sexpartite 
vaults.  These  shafts  are  three  in  number  in  the  main  piers, 
with  only  one  in  the  intermediate  piers,  while  the  supports  of 
the  longitudinal  ribs  rest  on  the  clerestory  ledge.  The  system 
of  Dijon,  above  the  ground  story,  is  thus  substantially  like  that 
of  Sens. 

Of  these  various  modes  of  adjustment  of  supports  to  vaults 
in  sexpartite  systems,  the  most  logical  and  the  most  architec- 
turally effective  are  the  earliest.  In  such  buildings  as  the  nave 
of  Noyon  and  the  choir  of  Senlis  every  member  in  the  vaulting 


120  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap 

has  its  own  support  in  the  lower  system  from  the  pavement, 
except  in  the  intermediate  piers,  where  the  supports  rest  on  the 
capitals  of  the  cylindrical  ground-story  columns.  Of  the  monu- 
ments next  in  chronological  order,  like  Paris,  Laon,  and  Dijon, 
the  comparative  lack  of  structural  continuity  from  the  pavement 
upwards  renders  them  less  completely  organic  architectural 
compositions ;  while  such  a  nave  as  that  of  Bourges,  though 
exhibiting  a  perfect  continuity  of  supports,  is  less  logical  and 
elegant  in  the  proportions  and  adjustments  of  its  structural 
parts. 

In  buildings  of  the  latter  part  of  the  twelfth  century,  having 
uniform  systems  and  quadripartite  vaults,  the  forms  and  adjust- 
ments of  the  internal  supports  remain,  in  many  cases,  the  same 
as  in  the  earlier  edifices  of  the  same  class,  such  as  St.-Germer- 
de-Fly.  That  is,  they  have  clustered  vaulting  shafts  which  rise 
from  the  pavement  in  every  pier.  But  the  piers  in  these  later 
monuments  are  much  diminished  in  bulk,  and  are  improved  in 
their  forms  and  proportions,  while  a  vigorous  and  effective  sys- 
tem of  flying  buttresses  completes  the  system,  and  renders  the 
exterior  expressive  of  the  structure  within.  Of  such  buildings 
the  little-known  Cathedral  of  Meaux  must,  in  its  primitive  scheme 
(Fig.  51),  have  been  one  of  the  most  beautiful.  Only  small 
portions  of  this  splendid  monument  remain  unchanged  to  show 
what  the  whole  design  originally  was.  But  of  the  nave  the 
eastern  bay  on  the  south  side,  and  the  easternmost  two  on  the 
north  side,  together  with  the  two  bays  on  the  west  side  of 
the  north  arm  of  the  transept,  largely  retain  their  original  form. 
In  these  parts  every  arch  and  vault  rib,  from  the  ground  story  to 
the  clerestory,  has  a  supporting  shaft  of  its  own  in  the  compact 
and  elegant  pier,  — all  of  the  vaulting  shafts  rising  continuously 
from  the  pavement.  Thus  we  have  in  Meaux,  by  the  end  of 
the  twelfth  century,  the  uniform  type  of  Gothic  structure,  with 
oblong  quadripartite  vaulting  (the  type  that  was  first  developed 
in  buildings  like  St.-Germer-de-Fly  and  St.  Evremond  of  Creil) 
carried  out  with  a  remarkable  degree  of  lightness  and  elegance, 
and  in  a  manner  that  was  hardly  surpassed  at  any  subsequent 
epoch. 

A  very  beautiful  building,  with  quadripartite  vaulting  of  this 
time,  is  the  Abbey  Church  of  St.  Yved  at  Braisne,  near  Soissons. 
Here  a  combination  of  grouped  supports,  rising  from  the  pave- 


GOTHIC   CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE 


121 


ment,  as  at  Meaux,  and  supports  resting  on  the  capitals  of 
monocylindric  columns,  as  at  Paris,  occurs.  The  eastern  part 
of  the  choir,  which  has  no  aisles,  is  designed  in  the  first  manner, 


Fig.  51.  —  Section  of  System  of  Meaux. 


while  the  piers  which  divide  the  two  western  bays,  where  short 
aisles  occur,  and  two  piers  of  the  transept,  are  of  the  latter  form. 
The  choir  and  transept,  having  only  very  short  aisles  near  the 


122 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


crossing,  do  not  require  flying  buttresses ;  but  the  nave,  consist- 
ing of  but  two  bays,  has  flying  buttresses  of  early  form,  well 
adjusted  to  the  thrusts  of  the  vaulting.     As  in  most  monuments 

of  the  twelfth  century,  the 
clerestory  and  aisle  openings 
are  still  comparatively  small, 
and  the  enclosing  walls  yet 
retain  much  of  the  Romanesque 
solidity.  But  the  Gothic  skele- 
ton is  perfectly  developed 
throughout,  and  the  whole 
design  is  of  that  pure,  and 
even  severe,  type  which  the 
finest  work  of  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury rarely  fails  to  exhibit. 

In  the  beautiful  nave  of 
Lisieux  we  have  a  quadripartite 
system,  in  which  round  columns 
occur  exclusively  on  the  ground 
story.  The  main  vaulting  shafts 
rest,  as  usual  in  this  type  of 
pier,  on  the  capitals  of  these 
columns,  while  the  shafts  of 
the  longitudinal  ribs  are  brought 
down  only  to  the  triforium 
ledge.  The  small,  but  exqui- 
site, choir  of  Gisors  affords 
another  example  of  the  same 
general  scheme  carried  out  in  a 
still  purer  style.  This  choir 
(Fig.  52)  may,  in  fact,  be  taken 
as  one  of  the  finest  existing 
monuments  of  the  early  Gothic 
style,  in  which  the  ground- 
story  pier  has  not  yet  received 
its  final  organic  development. 


Fig.  52.  —  Gisors. 


These  various  examples  serve  to  show  how  great  are  the 
minor  differences  exhibited  in  the  early  Gothic  buildings.  No 
two  of  them  have  precisely  the  same  arrangements  of  structural 
parts ;  yet  they  all  manifest  a  substantial  unity  of  purpose,  and 


IV  GOTHIC  COA'STRC/CT/OiV  IN  FRANCE  123 

a  growing  apprehension  of  the  new  principles.  The  differences 
are  due  to  local  circumstances  and  preferences,  as  well  as  to 
experimentation  and  versatility  of  invention.  Each  locality 
developed  artistic  habits  and  predilections  which  were  more 
or  less  peculiar  to  it ;  and  thus  the  central  influence  which 
went  forth  from  the  region  about  Paris  was  variously  modified. 
By  the  mutual  influences  of  these  contiguous  local  schools, 
more  or  less  mixed  forms  of  art  were  produced  in  the  Gothic, 
as  is  the  case  under  similar  circumstances  in  all  other  types  of 
architecture.  The  Cathedral  of  Sens,  for  instance,  shows  the 
united  influences  of  Burgundy  and  the  Ile-de-France.  That 
of  Bourges  is  a  creation  of  the  school  of  Poitou  modified  by 
the  central  school,  while  Rouen  exhibits  the  Gothic  principles 
as  worked  out  under  the  influence  of  Norman  taste.  Yet  while 
local  peculiarities  are  marked,  though  modified  by  those  of 
neighbouring  schools,  it  is  also  true  that  substantially  the  same 
features  and  adjustments  are  often  common  to  many  regions, 
even  to  those  situated  at  a  considerable  distance  apart.  Thus 
the  type  of  pier  which  occurs  at  Meaux  is  found  also  at 
Rouen,  on  the  one  hand,  and  at  Troyes,  on  the  other ;  while 
the  round  columns  of  Paris  are  found  at  Lisieux,  at  Laon, 
and  at  Dijon. 

But  there  are  further  developments  and  important  character- 
istics to  be  noticed  in  the  early  Gothic  buildings ;  and  it  may 
be  well  to  begin  our  consideration  of  these  in  the  piers  of  the 
ground  story.  The  changes  wrought  in  these  piers  constitute 
one  of  the  most  interesting  branches  of  the  subject,  and  afford 
illustration  of  some  fundamental  principles  of  the  Gothic  style. 
The  piers  of  the  earlier  transitional  buildings,  made  up  of  square 
members  and  engaged  vaulting  shafts,  like  those  of  St.  Germer, 
and  the  main  piers  of  Noyon  and  Senlis,  could  hardly  be  im- 
proved in  respect  to  functional  adaptability  and  expression.  But 
they  were  inconveniently  and  unnecessarily  bulky.  The  later 
piers  of  this  type,  like  those  of  Meaux,  were  much  diminished 
in  volume,  and  were  designed  with  elegance ;  but  the  plain 
round  column  made  a  still  more  slender  and  convenient  sup- 
port, and  this  with  some  additions  ultimately  gave  the  most 
satisfactory  form. 

The  monocylindrical  column  by  itself  was  soon  felt  to  be 


124 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


defective  in  affording  no  independent  supports  from  the  pave- 
ment for  the  various  members  of  the  superstructure.  Such  a 
column  did  not  partake  of  the  organic  composition  that  now 
characterized  every  other  part  of  the  structure.     Its  use  impHed 

a  partial  return  to  a  radically- 
different  mode  of  building 
which  had  become  obsolete. 
Attempts  to  improve  it  were 
made,  and  a  new  and  strictly 
functional  form  was  soon 
devised,  a  very  early,  per- 
haps the  first,  example  of 
which  may  be  studied  in  the 
nave  of  the  Cathedral  of 
Paris. 

The    first    step    in    the 
change     appears     to     have 
Fig.  53. -Impost  of  Choir,  Paris.  been  connected  with  a  new 

adjustment  to  its  load  of  the  form  of  the  abacus  of  the  great 
capital  of  the  round  column,  an  adjustment  rendered  necessary 
by  the  employment  of  two  arch  orders  in  the  great  arcade, 

instead  of  one.     In  the 

choir  of  the  same  cathe- 
dral the  arches  of  this 
arcade  are  of  one  order, 
on  the  choir  side,  and  of 
two  orders  on  the  side 
of  the  aisle,  as  shown 
in  the  plan  (Fig.  53). 
The  transverse  rib  a  of 
the  aisle  vault  is  so  wide 
that  the  diagonals  b  and 
c,  which  are  also  rather 
wide,  leave  little  of  the 
abacus  surface  unoccu- 
pied on  the  aisle  side; 
while   the  bases  of  the 


Fig.  54.  —  Impost  of  Nave,  Paris. 


vaulting  shafts  d,  e,  f,  on  the  opposite  side,  are  so  much  spread 
out  that  the  square  abacus  which  carries  this  compound  load  fits 
it  sufficiently  well.     But  in  the  nave  (Fig.  54),  where  the  great 


IV 


GOTHIC   CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE 


1 25 


FIG.  55. 


arches  are  of  two  orders  on  both  sides,  and  where  the  vaulting 
shafts  and  the  ribs  of  the  aisle  vault  are  smaller  and  more  com- 
pactly grouped,  the  square  abacus  is  not  so  well  fitted  to  its 
load.  Large  portions  of  its  surface,  a,  b,  c,  and  d,  are  left  un- 
occupied, although  its  corners  are  cut  off, 
in  order,  apparently,  to  diminish  this  useless 
surface.  With  this  result  the  builders  ap- 
pear not  to  have  been  satisfied,  and  a  better 
adjustment  was  soon  reached  as  the  result 
of  a  series  of  experimental  changes,  which 
finally  gave  the  lower  pier  a  more  organic 
correspondence  with  the  superstructure,  and 
produced  what  may  be  regarded  as  the  typical 
form  of  pier  of  the  developed  Gothic  style. 
In  this  form  of  pier  the  vaulting  shafts  receive  independent  sup- 
port from  the  pavement,  and  the  logic  of  the  transitional  com- 
pound pier,  in  a  measure  lost  by  the  use  of  the  single  column,  is 
recovered,  while  the  excessive  bulk  of  the  early  form  is  avoided. 

The  first  modification 
in  the  nave  of  Paris  oc- 
curs in  the  sixth  pier 
counting  from  the  tran- 
sept. Here  a  smaller 
shaft  is  incorporated 
with  the  great  round 
column  to  carry  the 
weight  of  the  vaulting 
shafts(givingthe  section, 
Fig.  55),  corresponding 
additions  are  made  to 
the  great  capital  and  to 
the  base,  and  larger  por- 
tions are  cut  off  from  the 
corners  of  the  abacus,  as 
shown  in  the  plan  (Fig. 
56).  This  was,  however, 
but  a  partial  improvement.  It  provided  an  independent  support 
for  the  vaulting  shafts  of  the  high  vaulting,  but  it  left  the  archi- 
volts  and  the  ribs  of  the  aisle  vaulting  without  such  supports. 
The  added  shaft  could  not  be  happily  incorporated  with  the 


^V2 


Fig.  56. —  Impost  of  Sixth  Pier,  Paris. 


126 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


original  column,  and  the  abacus  is  still  ill  adjusted  to  the  load. 
These  faults  were  immediately  recognized.  It  was  seen  that 
if  the  vaulting  shafts  were  to  have  separate  support  in  the  lower 
pier,  the  other  members  rising  from  it  ought  to  be  supported  in 

like  manner.  Accordingly  in  the 
seventh  and  westernmost  pier, 
this  new  idea  was  carried  out, 
and  an  organic  pier  was  pro- 
duced which  furnished  the  model 
that  was  thenceforth  employed, 
with  many  variations  of  propor- 
tions and  details,  and  which  at- 
tained its  highest  perfection  in 
the  naves  of  Chartres,  Amiens, 
and  Reims.  The  section  of  this 
'■  ^'^'  pier  is  shown  in  Fig.  57,  its  abacus 

surface  with  the  plan  of  the  imposed  load  in  Fig.  58,  and  a  per- 
spective view  taken  from  the  opposite  triforium  in  order  to 
show  as  much  as  can  be  seen  of  the  upper  surface  of  the 
abacus  and  of  the  form  of  the  load  is  given  in  Fig.  59.  It 
will  be  seen  from  the 
plan  that  the  abacus  of 
the  capital  of  the  great 
central  column  is  now 
circular,  that  the  abaci 
of  the  capitals  of  the 
subordinate  shafts  are 
square  in  agreement 
with  the  sections  of  the 
sub-archivolts  and  the 
transverse  rib  of  the  aisle 
vault  which  they  re- 
spectively support,  and 
that  the  engaged  column 
which  supports  the  vault- 
ing shafts  has  a  seg- 
mental projection  which  forms  a  moulded  band  but  not  a  proper 
capital,  the  reason  being  that  no  arch  springs  from  it.  The 
vaulting  shafts  which  rise  from  it  are  crowned  with  capitals  at 
the  springing  of  the  vaults.     It  will  be  observed  that  the  plan 


Fig.  58. —  Impost  of  Seventh  Pier,  Paris. 


IV 


GOTHIC  CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE 


127 


of  the  impost  is  unsymmetrical,  one  of  the  lateral  vaulting  shafts 
advancing  forward  of  the  other.  This  is  caused  by  the  neces- 
sary thickening  of  the  arcade  spandrel  on  that  side  in  order  to 
reenforce  the  great  piers  of  the  western  towers  which  adjoin 


P'lG.  59.  —  Impost  of  Seventh  Pier,  Nave  of  Paris. 


this  bay.  The  adjustment  of  this  compound  abacus  to  its  load 
could  hardly  be  improved.  There  is  even  less  unoccupied 
space  here  than  on  the  square  abacus  of  the  choir  already  ex- 
amined.    The  form  of  the  whole,  as  exhibited  in  the  perspective 


128 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


elevation,  is  admirable.  The  smaller  capitals,  proportionately 
diminished  in  height,  are  finely  incorporated  with  the  central 
capital,  and  the  whole  composition  is  remarkable  for  beauty 
and  organic  expression. 

An  exceptional  form  of  pier  occurs  in  one  bay  of  the  nave 
of  the  Cathedral  of  Laon.  In  this  case  a  round  column  is  reen- 
forced  by  five  detached  monolithic  shafts  of  great  slenderness, 
one  supporting  each  angle  of  the  square  abacus,  and  the  fifth 
being  placed  under  the  vaulting  shafts  (as  in  the  section,  Fig. 
60).  But  while  by  this  arrangement  the  lower  pier  is  mate- 
rially strengthened,  it  cannot  be  considered  a  good  form,  for  the 

reason  that  the  corner  shafts  are 
not  organically  adjusted  to  the 
arch  orders  and  vault  ribs.^  It 
was  apparently  not  felt  to  be  satis- 
factory, and  it  was  not  perpetuated, 
as  it  could  not  logically  be,  in  the 
Gothic  system. 
*■     \  /In  the    Cathedral  of   Soissons 

the  idea  embodied  in  the  sixth  pier 
of  the  nave  of  Paris  is  carried  out 
systematically  in  the  general 
scheme.^  Here  the  engaged  shaft, 
having  been  a  part  of  the  original 
design,  and  not,  as  in  Paris,  an 
afterthought,  is  better  adjusted,  and  the  whole  system  is  harmoni- 
ous and  elegant  (A,  Fig.  61).  The  added  shaft  is  more  slender 
than  in  Paris.  Instead  of  an  independent  abacus  to  its  capital, 
the  abacus  of  the  great  capital,  which  in  this  case  is  octagonal, 
is  carried  out  so  as  to  cover  it.  A  glance  at  the  illustration  will 
show  that  the  shaft  is  well  adjusted  to  the  superimposed  vault- 
ing shafts,  and  that  the  whole  composition  is  a  great  improve- 
ment on  that  of  Paris,  represented  at  B  in  the  same  figure. 
The  single  engaged  shaft,  besides  affording  a  visible  support 
in  the  lower  system  for  the  high  vaulting,  has  also  the  function 
of  stiffening  the  pier  in  the  direction  of  the  inward  thrust  of 


Fig.  60. 


1  Viollet-le-Duc,  s.v.  Pilier,  p.  163,  refers  to  this  form  of  pier  as  a  good  one. 

2  This  cathedral,  which  dates  from  the  latter  part  of  the  twelfth  and  the  begin- 
ning of  the  thirteenth  centuries,  is  stril<ingly  harmonious  in  total  effect,  and  we  shall 
have  occasion  to  notice  other  features  of  it  as  we  go  on. 


IV 


GOTHIC   CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE 


129 


the  aisle  vaults.  This  single  shaft  occurs,  also,  in  the  apse 
of  Reims, 1  while  in  that  of  the  Cathedral  of  Troyes  it  is  found 
together  with  another  similar  shaft  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  pier,  which  carries  the  transverse  rib  of  the  aisle  vault ; 
and  in  the  apse  of  Mantes  the  single  shaft  appears  in  con- 
nection with  a  slender  coved  pilaster  incorporated  with  the 
cylindrical  pier. 

In  the  vaults  and  vaulting  systems  of  the  more  advanced 
Gothic  of  the  end  of  the  twelfth    and   the    early  part  of   the 


Fig.  61. —  Pier  of  Soissons  and  Paris. 

thirteenth  centuries  the  continuity  of  support  from  the  pave- 
ment upwards  becomes  constant,  and  though  not  every  indi- 
vidual member  of  the  superstructure  has  a  support  of  its  own 
from  the  foundation,  there  is  always  at  least  one  shaft  in  the 
ground-story  pier  for  each  group  of  members  above. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century  the   quadri- 
partite vault,  now  rendered  lighter  than  before,  in  its  rib  skel- 

1  M.  Enlart,  in  an  instructive  paper  entitled  "  Villard  de  Hounecourt  et  les  Cis- 
terciens,"  published  in  the  Bibliotheque  de  P Acole  dcs  Chartes,  vol.  Ivi.,  1895,  cites  two 
other  instances,  in  Saint-Quentin  and  Vaucelles  respectively. 
K 


I30  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

eton  as  well  as  in  the  vault  shell  itself,  was  in  general,  though 
still  not  exclusive,  use,  and  the  form  of  pier  that  was  developed 
in  the  westernmost  bay  of  Paris  became  the  most  prevalent. 
Though  the  crowns  of  the  ribs  of  the  early  Gothic  vaults  were 
sometimes,  as  we  have  seen  (p.  65,  note),  on  about  the  same 
level,  as  in  St.-Germer-de-Fly,  they  were  more  frequently  very 
domical.  But  excessive  doming  was  now  systematically  avoided, 
and,  though  the  vault  crowns  never  became  level,  the  crowns  of 
their  sustaining  ribs  varied  little  in  height. 

There  is  one  important  characteristic  of  French  Gothic 
vaulting  that  is  rarely  noticed,  and  its  real  significance  has  not, 
I  believe,  as  yet  been  explained  by  those  writers  who  have  ob- 
served it.  I  refer  to  the  irregular  and  twisted  surfaces  already 
(p.  in)  alluded  to  in  the  vaults  of  Paris.  These  result  from  the 
stilting  of  the  longitudinal  ribs,  by  which  their  springing  is  raised 
to  a  much  higher  level  than  that  of  the  main  arches  of  the  vault. 
A  prevalent  misunderstanding  of  the  Gothic  vault  has  arisen 
from  the  supposition  that,  by  taking  advantage  of  the  proper- 
ties of  the  pointed  arch,  all  its  ribs  may  be  made  to  spring  from 
the  same  level,  and  reach  the  same  height.^  It  is,  indeed,  true 
that  the  use  of  the  pointed  arch  made  it  possible  to  accomplish 
this ;  but  it  is  equally  true  that  in  strictly  Gothic  clerestory 
vaulting  the  pointed  arch  was  never  so  used.  In  such  vaults 
the  longitudinal  rib  is  always  stilted.  This  fact  was  noticed 
by  Willis,^  who  merely  remarks  in  relation  to  it  that  "  it  is  a 
very  universal  arrangement  of  clerestory  vaults,  and  is  produc- 
tive of  great  beauty  and  convenience,  but  it  leads  to  some  diffi- 
culty in  the  form  and  arrangement  of  the  vaulting  surface." 
Other  writers  have  supposed  that  this  arrangement  was  intended 
to  provide  for  largeness  of  clerestory  openings ;  thus  Sir  Gil- 
bert Scott  says :  ^  "  The  side  arches  were  sometimes  stilted,  not 
from  any  necessity,  but  merely  to  afford  greater  space  for 
clerestory  windows."  But  that  it  was  not  adopted  because  it 
was  productive  of  beauty  or  convenience,  nor  to  afford  greater 
space  for  clerestory  windows,  a  just  consideration  of  the  struc- 


^  Cf.  Furgusson's  History  of  Architecture,  vol.  i.  p.  517. 

2  "  Essay  on  the  Construction  of  the  Vaults  of  the  Middle  Ages,"  published  in  the 
Transactions  of  the  Royal  Institute  of  British  Architects,  for  the  year  1842. 

3  lectures  on  the  Rise  and  Developineni  of  MedicBval  Architecture,  vol.  i.  p.  63. 
London,  1879. 


IV 


GOTHIC  CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE 


131 


tural  exigencies  involved  would  conclusively  show,  even  if  it 
were  not  proved  by  the  fact  that  the  same  peculiarity  is  con- 
stant in  France  long  before  the  clerestory  opening  is  developed 
so  as  to  fill  the  whole  space  beneath  the  vault.     In  fact,  the 


Fig.  62. —  St.  I_^u  d'Esserent. 


opening  occupies  but  a  small  portion  of  this  space  in  all  early 
Gothic  buildings,  as  in  Paris,  Mantes,  Laon,  St.  Leu  d'Esserent, 
the  Collegiate  Church  of  St.  Frambourg  at  Senlis,  and  many 
others.    Figure  62,  a  perspective  view  of  one  bay  of  the  clerestory 


132  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

of  St.  Leu  d'Esserent,  will  illustrate  this.  Here  the  springing 
a  of  the  longitudinal  rib  will  be  seen  to  be  above  the  springing 
b  of  the  main  ribs  by  almost  half  the  vertical  height  of  the 
vault.  It  will  be  seen,  too,  that  the  intrados  of  the  flying  but- 
tress, visible  through  the  window,  meets  the  pier  at  the  same 
level.  It  is  well  known  that  the  thrusts  of  the  great  vault  ribs 
are  not  confined  to  their  points  of  springing,  but  that  there  is 
a  tendency  in  the  arches,  when  firmly  abutted  at  these  points, 
to  rise  at  the  haunches,  in  consequence  of  which  they  require 
to  be  reenforced  in  these  parts.  Now  the  method  here  employed, 
by  which  the  line  ab  is  made  to  rise  vertically  to  the  level  a, 
brings  the  triangular  vault  surface  bac  into  a  plane  which  is 
inclined  to  the  pier  in  the  direction  of  the  thrust  of  the  diagonal 
rib;  and,  as  the  diagonal  rib  of  the  next  adjoining  compartment, 
with  the  corresponding  portion  of  vault  surface,  is  inclined  to 
the  same  pier  in  the  opposite  direction,  the  obliquity  of  the 
pressures  is  neutralized ;  and  as  the  haunches  of  all  the  ribs 
are  reenforced  by  a  solid  filling-in  up  to  this  level,  a  perfect 
concentration  of  the  thrusts  upon  the  pier  is  secured  —  the 
greatest  force  of  these  thrusts  falling  where  the  flying  buttress 
is  brought  to  bear.^  The  horizontal  section  (Fig.  63),  taken  at 
the  level  a  (Fig.  62),  will  more  fully  explain  the  form  of  this 
portion  of  the  vault,  and  the  manner  in  which  the  pressures 
are  gathered  upon  the  pier.  Here  a,  b,  and  c  are  the  great  ribs 
whose  thrusts,  in  the  direction  of  the  arrows,  are  concentrated 
upon  the  pier  d,  and  are  counterbraced  by  the  flying  buttress  e. 
In  other  words,  the  section  through  the  vaulting  conoid  at  about 
half  the  vertical  height  gives  the  triangle  abc  at  A,  and  not 
the  square  abed  at  B,  of  the  same  figure,  which  is  the  form  it 
would  assume  if  the  longitudinal  arch  were  not  stilted. 

No  single  feature  could  be  chosen  which  would  more  clearly 
exhibit  the  essential  principles  of  Gothic  construction.  It  ex- 
hibits, in  fact,  its  governing  characteristic  —  that  upon  which, 
more  than  upon  anything  else,  every  other  characteristic  depends. 
Without  this  concentration  of  the  vault  thrusts  as  far  up  as  they 
extend,  the  stability  of  the  Gothic  system  could  not  be  secured. 
By  means  of  it  the  cross-strains  are  all  effectively  gathered  upon 

^  This  was  apparently  the  intention,  but  actually  the  flying  buttresses  are  not 
brought  to  bear  precisely  on  the  points  of  greatest  thrust  in  St,  Leu  d'Esserent,  as 
will  be  seen  farther  on. 


IV 


GOTHIC  COiVSTRUCTIOIV  IX  FRANCE 


133 


the  compact  pier,  which  is  stiffened  by  the  flying  buttresses.  It 
is  therefore  remarkable  that  so  learned  an  authority  as  Sir  Gil- 
bert Scott  should  fail  to  perceive  the  meaning  of  the  stilting 
of  the  clerestory  arch,  and  should  so  far  err  as  to  affirm  that  it 
did  not  arise  from  any  necessity,  but  was  adopted  merely  to 
afford  space  for  clerestory  windows. 


Fig.  63. 

How  far  this  form  of  clerestory  was  afterwards  taken  ad- 
vantage of  for  larger  openings,  we  shall  see  when  we  come 
to  consider  modes  of  enclosure.  For  the  present  we  must  con- 
fine our  attention  to  the  forms  and  adjustments  of  the  vaults, 
the  vaulting  supports,  and  the  general  framework  of  the  build- 
ings in  which  the  Gothic  style  was  assuming  its  perfected  forms. 


134  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

In  these  vaults,  as  in  those  of  earlier  date,  the  only  ribs 
employed  are  those  which  have  a  constructive  office ;  namely, 
the  transverse,  diagonal,  and  longitudinal  ribs.  Ridge  ribs  and 
surface  ribs,  which  were  sometimes  introduced  at  a  later  period, 
do  not  appear  at  this  epoch.  Of  the  truly  constructive  ribs 
none  are  ever  wanting,  nor  are  suitable  supports  for  them  ever 
wanting  in  the  piers.  Throughout  the  building  a  structural 
reason  is  apparent  for  every  member  that  meets  the  eye,  though 
the  manner  in  which  the  minor  structural  adjustments  are 
effected  continues  to  vary. 

In  the  nave  of  St.  Leu  d'Esserent,  whose  vaults  we  have 
just  been  considering,  the  piers  are  designed  after  the  new 
manner  that  was  established  in  the  westernmost  piers  of  Paris. 
They  differ,  however,  in  having  a  complete  and  symmetrical 
compound  capital  terminating  the  ground-story  portion  of  each  ; 
that  is  to  say,  the  engaged  shaft  which  supports  the  vaulting 
shafts  has  an  independent  capital  at  this  level,  like  those  of 
the  other  three  shafts  of  the  lower  system.  The  lower  pier 
has  thus  the  defect  of  lacking  a  continuous  organic  connection 
with  the  high  vaulting.  It  is,  like  the  older  monocylindrical 
columns,  complete  in  itself.  It  is  therefore  less  satisfactory 
than  its  prototype  of  Paris,  where  the  capital  is  omitted  from 
the  shaft  that  supports  the  main  vaulting  group,  and  the  eye 
is  led  upward  by  the  continuity  subsisting  between  the  upper 
and  the  lower  parts  of  the  structure.  The  plan  of  the  great 
abacus  is  changed  from  a  circle  (its  form  in  Paris)  to  a  square 
set  diagonally  with  the  square  abaci  of  the  subordinate  capitals 
projecting  from  its  angles,  and  set  with  their  sides  parallel  with 
the  axes  of  the  building.  This  became  the  general  form  of  the 
great  abaci  in  the  subsequent  Gothic  piers  of  the  same  type. 
In  this  system  the  shafts  of  the  longitudinal  ribs  rest  on  the 
clerestory  ledge,  while  the  three  principal  vaulting  shafts  de- 
scend to  the  capital  of  the  lower  pier.  The  nave  of  St.  Leu  is 
but  little  subsequent  in  date  to  the  choir  and  apse.  It  has  the 
characteristics  of  the  work  of  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century. 

The  nave  of  the  Cathedral  of  Chartres  followed  quickly  after 
that  of  St.  Leu,^  which  it  closely  resembles  in  many  of  its  fea- 

1  The  architecture  of  Chartres  is,  for  the  most  part,  that  of  the  close  of  the 
twelfth  century.  The  lower  portions  of  the  choir  at  least  must  have  been  executed 
at  that  time.  The  nave  may  have  been  constructed  very  early  in  the  thirteenth 
century. 


IV 


GOTHIC   CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE 


135 


tures,  though  the  scheme  is  amplified  and  improved,  and  is 
carried  out  on  a  vastly  grander  scale.  The  general  form  of 
the  vaulting  is  more  pointed,  the  diagonal  ribs,  as  well  as  the 
transverse  ribs,  having  the  pointed  form,  but  the  longitudinal 


Fig.  64.  —  Cliartres. 

rib  is  round-arched,  and  its  stilting  is  even  more  marked  than  in 
St.  Leu,  the  springing  (Fig.  64)  being  at  more  than  half  the 
vertical  height  of  the  vault. 

The  survival  of   this  form  of   arch  in  the  clerestory  of   a 
developed  Gothic  building  affords  an  instructive  illustration  of 


136  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap 

the  fact  that  the  pointed  arch  is  not  always  essential,  but 
that  the  peculiar  manner  of  adjusting  the  various  structural 
arches  is  an  even  more  important  characteristic  of  Gothic  vault- 
ing. The  almost  exclusive  use  of  the  pointed  arch  seems  to  be, 
indeed,  indispensable  to  the  ideal  perfection  of  the  style ;  for 
by  its  use  alone,  at  least  in  the  transverse  arches,  can  the  thrusts 
be  diminished  to  the  utmost,  and  excessive  doming  avoided  in 
the  readiest  way.  Moreover,  architectural  harmony  calls  for  its 
general  use  in  a  Gothic  design.  Yet  in  many  of  the  finest 
Gothic  buildings  the  round  arch  is  often  met  with.  It  is  fre- 
quently used  for  the  diagonal  ribs,  it  is  always  used  (in  the 
purest  Gothic)  in  the  westernmost  transverse  rib,  where  there 
is  a  great  wheel  window  in  the  west  front,  and  where  its 
thrusts  are  met  by  the  great  towers  of  the  facade ;  but  after 
transitional  times  it  rarely  occurs  in  the  clerestory  arches  as  here 
in  Chartres.  These  are  the  arches  in  which,  on  the  common 
theory,  the  pointed  form  is  of  the  greatest  utility,  because  it 
offers  the  simplest  means  of  bringing  the  crown  of  this  narrow- 
est arch  of  the  vault  up  to  the  required  level.  Nevertheless 
the  builders  of  Chartres  chose  to  retain  the  round  arch  here. 
Why  did  they  do  so .-'  It  looks  as  if  they  had  so  strongly  felt 
the  advantage  of  stilting  as  a  means  of  effecting  the  utmost 
concentration  of  the  thrusts  against  the  pier  that  they  preferred 
to  make  the  fullest  use  of  it,  even  though  it  necessitated  the 
round  arch  because  the  pointed  form  would  in  this  case  have 
carried  the  crown  too  high.  The  advantage  of  the  pointed  arch 
over  the  round  arch,  in  consequence  of  its  weaker  thrusts,  had 
not  to  be  considered  here  because  the  clerestory  arches  mutually 
abut  each  other.  But  in  the  greater  arches  of  the  vault,  which 
are  not  thus  abutted,  the  builders  have  shown  their  appreciation 
of  the  value  of  the  pointed  arch  by  giving  to  these  arches  a 
very  acutely  pointed  form. 

The  builders  of  this  church  went  even  farther  in  the  use 
of  stilting  as  a  means  of  concentrating  thrusts,  and  applied  the 
principle  to  the  vaulting  of  the  aisles  also.  This  is  unusual. 
The  vaulting  of  the  aisles  being  on  a  much  smaller  scale,  and 
the  abutments  of  the  ground  story  having  far  greater  propor- 
tionate bulk  and  resistance  than  the  abutments  of  the  clerestory, 
the  necessity  for  stilting  hardly  exists ;  and  accordingly  stilting 
is  of  very  rare  occurrence  in  the  aisles  of  Gothic  buildings.     This 


IV  GOTHIC   CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE 


137 


Stilting  of  the  aisle  vaulting  of  Chartres,  though  practically- 
unnecessary,  affords,  however,  another  proof  that  this  method 
of  construction  was  not  resorted  to  as  a  means  of  obtaining 
large  openings,  for  the  aisle  openings  here  do  not  nearly  fill 
the  bays. 

The  lower  piers  of  Chartres  are  alternately  round  columns 
with  four  engaged  octagonal  shafts,  and  octagonal  columns 
with  four  round  shafts.  The  lower  vaulting  shaft  has  no  capi- 
tal, but  is  merely  banded  by  the  abacus  moulding  of  the  great 
compound  capital,  as  in  the  westernmost  pier  of  Paris.  The 
abacus  of  the  great  capital  has  a  plan  like  that  of  St.  Leu,  ex- 
cept for  the  difference  occasioned  by  the  omission  of  a  capital 
in  the  lower  vaulting  shaft.  Five  vaulting  shafts,  instead 
of  three  as  at  St.  Leu,  rise  from  the  great  capital,  the  shaft 
of  the  longitudinal  rib  being  brought  down  with  the  other  shafts 
as  in  the  main  piers  of  Laon.  These  shafts  are  of  three  mag- 
nitudes, corresponding  with  the  proportions  of  the  vault  ribs 
which  they  respectively  sustain ;  and  the  alternation  of  the 
round  and  octagonal  forms  of  the  ground-story  system  is  car- 
ried out  in  them  —  octagonal  shafts  being  placed  over  round 
columns,  and  round  ones  over  octagonal  columns.  The  adjust- 
ment of  the  great  abacus  to  its  load  is  as  perfect  as  possible, 
and  this  ultimate  type  of  Gothic  pier  received  no  more  logical, 
or  more  beautiful,  development  until  the  nave  of  Amiens  was 
built. 

The  system  of  the  nave  of  the  fine  Church  of  St.  Pierre  of 
Chartres,  situated  in  the  lower  part  of  the  town,  is  worthy  of 
special  notice  as  an  instance  of  beautiful  twelfth-century  Gothic. 
This  church  exhibits  a  curious  lack  of  uniformity  in  its  general 
scheme,  even  in  the  apparently  contemporaneous  parts.  It  is 
largely  of  the  same  general  character  as  the  cathedral,  though 
the  proportions  are  very  different ;  but  below  the  triforium  the 
design  of  one  side  is  wholly  unlike  that  of  the  other.  In  the 
lower  piers  of  the  north  side  a  modified  form  of  the  twelfth- 
century  type  of  compound  pier  occurs,  while  on  the  south  side 
the  form  consisting  of  a  central  column  with  four  engaged 
shafts  is  employed.  The  modification  effected  in  the  piers  of 
the  north  side  consists  in  the  use  of  a  single  vaulting  shaft  on 
the  ground  story  for  the  high  vaulting,  instead  of  starting  the 
whole  vaulting  system  from  the  pavement.    This  shaft  is  treated 


138  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

like  the  corresponding  shaft  in  the  seventh  pier  of  Paris,  and  the 
piers  of  the  cathedral  just  described,  having  no  capital  but  merely 
a  band  of  mouldings  from  the  abaci  of  the  capitals  of  the  ground- 
story  impost.  In  all  respects  except  the  forms  of  the  lower  piers 
the  work  has  the  same  character  and  the  same  profiling  on  both 
sides  of  the  nave.  It  appears,  therefore,  to  be  of  the  same 
epoch,  and  affords  an  unusual  instance  of  disregard  of  symmetry 
in  composition.  Above  the  triforium  ledge  the  system  is  uni- 
form, and  the  whole  design  is  logical  and  elegant.  The  vault- 
ing is  of  the  finest  quadripartite  Gothic  character,  and  the 
clerestory  is  of  unusual  proportionate  height.  The  system  (Fig. 
65)  throughout  affords  an  admirable  illustration  of  the  purest 
Gothic  art  that  immediately  preceded  the  great  monuments  of 
the  early  thirteenth  century  in  which  the  style  culminates. 

The  Cathedral  of  Reims,  which  from  the  date  of  its  com- 
mencement comes  among  the  next  works  in  chronological  order, 
is  a  vast  monument  of  the  same  general  type  as  the  foregoing. 
It  was  begun  very  early  in  the  thirteenth  century,  though  only 
small  portions  of  it  were  executed  at  this  early  date.  The 
upper  parts  of  the  choir,  and  the  whole  of  the  nave,  were  built 
after  1250.  Yet  the  general  scheme  is  that  of  the  earlier  epoch. 
Here  the  arches  of  the  vault  are  even  more  acutely  pointed 
than  at  Chartres,  and  the  round  arch  occurs  nowhere  in  the 
system.  The  vaulting  shafts  are  finely  proportioned,  and  all 
descend  to  the  capital  of  the  lower  pier,  upon  which  they  are 
well  gathered.  This  pier  is  of  the  fully  developed  form,  but 
its  great  compound  capital  is  not  so  well  composed  as  at  Paris 
and  Chartres.  Its  smaller  members  are  not,  as  in  those  build- 
ings, diminished  in  height,  but  have  the  same  altitude  as  the 
large  central  one,  and  the  main  lower  vaulting  shaft,  though  it 
has  not  a  real  capital,  is  banded  with  carved  ornamentation  like 
that  of  the  great  capital.  But  these  details  belong  to  the  later 
work  of  Reims ;  while,  as  I  have  said,  the  general  structural 
form,  though  mostly  late  in  execution,  is  early  in  idea.  It  is 
worthy  of  notice  that  some  stilting  and  some  winding  of  sur- 
faces occur  in  the  aisle  vaulting  here. 

We  now  come  to  the  building  in  which  the  Gothic  system 
reaches  its  utmost  consistent  development — the  nave  of  the 
Cathedral  of  Amiens  (Plate  2),  which  was  begun  in  the  year 
1220.     Not  only  is  this  nave  the  grandest  in  scale  of  any  in 


Plate    i: 


AMIZINS    CATHEDRAL, 
n>eQisn  :n  1220- 


GOTHIC   CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE 


139 


France,  being  in  height  forty-two  metres  from  the  pavement  to 
the  crown  of  the  vault,  and  in  width  nearly  fifteen  metres  from 


Fig.  65.  —  Section  of  System  of  St.  Pierre,  Chartres. 

centre  to  centre  of  its  piers,  but  its  design  is  justly  considered 
as  the  crowning  glory  of  Gothic  art ;  and  it  is  a  grand  summing 


I40 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


up  of  the  principles  and  constructive  forms  that  had  been  grad- 
ually taking  shape  since  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century. 

The  concentration  of  the  high  vaulting  upon  the  pier  is  here 
managed  by  adjusting  the  longitudinal  rib  in  a  manner  some- 
what different  from  that  of  the  earlier  constructions.  The 
shaft  of  this  rib  (Fig.  ^  and  Plate  2)  is  not  carried  so  high 

above  the  main  impost  as  before, 
and  hence  it  might  at  first  glance 
appear  that  the  stilting  is  slight. 
It  will,  however,  be  seen  that  a 
vertical  line  is  maintained  in  the 
surface  of  the  vault  for  a  consider- 
able distance  above  the  head  of  the 
shaft.  This  is  effected  by  allowing 
the  rib  to  interpenetrate  so  that 
its  extrados  is  not  freed  from  the 
masonry  of  the  vault  shell  until  a 
point  at  more  than  half  the  verti- 
cal height  of  the  vault  is  reached. 
By  this  means  the  thrusts  are  con- 
centrated to  the  utmost,  and  all 
parts  of  the  system  are  gathered 
into  the  smallest  practicable  com- 
pass. The  main  vaulting  shaft  is 
now,  for  the  first  time  in  piers  of 
this  type,  a  continuous  member 
of  the  same  diameter  throughout, 
reaching  from  the  pavement  to 
the  springing.  The  shafts  of 
the  diagonal  ribs  rest  upon  the 
great  pier  capitals  as  before, 
while  those  of  the  longitudinal  ribs  are  brought  down  to  the 
triforium  ledge.  This  pier,  taken  as  a  whole,  is  a  consummate 
achievement  of  Gothic  art  in  which  structural  logic  and  beauty 
of  design  are  joined  to  a  degree  that  was  hardly  equalled  in  any 
other  monument  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

Throughout  the  system  of  Amiens  the  abaci  of  the  capitals 
are  everywhere  admirably  adjusted  in  shape  to  the  sections  of 
the  ribs  and  archivolts  which  they  carry ;  and  as  these  sections 
were   changed  in  form   during  the   progress  of  the  work,  the 


Fig.  66.  —  Amiens. 


GOTHIC   CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE 


141 


Fig.  67. 


abaci  of  the  upper  portions  are  correspondingly  different  from 
those  of  the  lower  parts.  On  the  ground  story  the  archivolts 
and  aisle-vault  ribs,  and  consequently  the  abaci,  have  the  square 
form  that  had  prevailed 
until  the  close  of  the 
first  quarter  of  the  thir- 
teenth century ;  while 
in  the  triforium  and 
clerestory  the  sections 
of  these  members  are 
modified  so  as  to  require 
abaci  of  various  simple 
polygonal  forms. 

An  interesting  piece 
of  structural  logic  oc- 
curs in  the  vaulting  impost  of  the  westernmost  bay.  In  this 
bay  the  longitudinal  rib  is  doubled  for  the  sake  of  additional 
strength  where  the  western  towers  join  the  nave.  In  conse- 
quence of  this  the  shaft,  which 
in  the  other  bays  carries  the 
diagonal  rib,  has  here  to  be 
given  to  the  support  of  the 
extra  rib ;  and  the  diagonal  rib 
is  added  to  the  load  of  the  great 
vaulting  shaft  which  carries  the 
transverse  rib.  In  order  to 
prepare  the  capital  of  this  shaft 
to  accommodate  the  additional 
rib,  an  angular  projection  is 
given  to  the  abacus,  producing 
an  unsymmetrical  form.  This 
will  be  better  understood  from 
the  impost  plan  (Fig.  67),  and 
the  perspective  elevation  (Fig. 
68).  Thus  were  the  Gothic 
builders  ever  ready  to  admit 
any  irregularities  of  form  that 
and  it  is  remarkable  that  they 
so  managed  these  departures  from  regularity  that  they  rarely 
failed  to  produce  an  harmonious  total  effect. 


Fig.  68.  —  Amiens. 


structural  exigencies  demanded 


142  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURP:  chap. 

I  have  already  remarked  that  no  single  Gothic  building  unites 
all  of  the  perfections  of  which  the  entire  group  of  French  monu- 
ments affords  illustration ;  but  of  the  nave  of  Amiens  it  may  be 
said  that  a  more  admirable  embodimeut  of  Gothic  principles 
can  hardly  be  conceived.  Words  can  convey  no  just  idea  of  the 
majesty  and  harmony  of  its  proportions,  or  of  the  refined  beauty 
of  its  grandly  monumental  sculptured  ornamentation. 

The  nave  of  St.  Denis,  dating  from  near  the  middle  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  though  on  a  considerably  smaller  scale  than 
that  of  Amiens,  is  also  a  fine  example  of  the  fully  developed 
Gothic  style.  Here  the  diagonal  ribs  of  the  vaulting  are  round 
arched,  and  the  transverse  ribs  are  but  slightly  pointed.  The 
vaults  are  stilted  in  the  manner  of  those  of  Amiens.  The  piers 
are  of  the  clustered  type  of  the  twelfth  century  in  a  much  im- 
proved form.  They  are  somewhat  like  those  of  Meaux,  only 
still  more  compact  and  elegant. 

The  enormous  and  magnificent  choir  of  Beauvais,  as  it  has 
come  down  to  us,  does  not  exhibit  the  design  of  its  original 
architect.  In  less  than  a  century  after  its  completion, ^  the 
upper  portions  began  to  yield,  owing  in  part,  perhaps,  to  the 
defective  workmanship  with  which  the  prodigious  scheme  had 
been  hastily  carried  out ;  and  changes  had  to  be  made  which 
materially  altered  its  character.  The  system  was  originally  much 
like  that  of  Amiens  developed  on  an  exaggerated  scale.  The 
main  supports  proving  inadequate,  it  was  found  necessary  to 
subdivide  the  gigantic  ground-story  arches  by  inserting  inter- 
mediate piers  carrying  intermediate  transverse  ribs ;  and  thus 
to  convert  the  original  quadripartite  vaulting  into  vaulting  of  the 
sexpartite  form.  The  monument  thus  remodelled  has  survived 
without  essential  change ;  and  it  stands  to-day  as  an  instruc- 
tive illustration  of  the  folly  of  exaggerating  proportions,  and  as 
marking  the  first  departure  of  the  Gothic  builders  from  the 
sound  principles  and  methods  of  execution  that  had  previously 
governed  them.  The  stupendous  structure,  nevertheless,  ex- 
hibits some  features  that  further  illustrate  the  fertility  of  inven- 
tion of  the  Gothic  builders.  Among  these  is  the  pier  of  the 
ground  story,  which,  though  in  the  main  composed  like  the  pier 
of  Amiens,  has  some  points  of  difference.     The  central  column, 

1  Cf.  Viollet-le-Duc,  s.v.  Construction,  p.  174. 


IV  GOTHIC   COiVSTRUCT/OIV  IN  FRANCE  143 

for  instance,  instead  of  being  cylindrical  has  a  somewhat  ellip- 
tical section,  with  its  longer  axis  at  right  angles  to  that  of  the 
building.  The  main  vaulting  shaft  is  more  deeply  embedded  in 
this  main  body  of  the  pier  than  are  the  archivolt  shafts ;  while 
on  the  side  of  the  aisle  a  broad  pilaster  with  a  group  of  three 
engaged  shafts  occur.  The  entire  section  (Fig.  69)  gives  a 
form  that  stiffens  the  pier  ^  in  the  direction  of  the  thrusts,  which 
in  a  system  of  such  extraordinary  height  might  have  caused 
deflection  in  piers  of  the  usual  shape.  In  the  transept,  however, 
the  second  pier  from  the  crossing  on  each  side  is  like  the  piers 
of  Amiens,  and  very  elegant  in 
form.  The  elliptical  form  is 
not  needed  in  this  position  be- 
cause the  pier  comes  between 
the  more  massive  pier  at  the 
crossing  and  another  massive 
one  intended  to  support  the 
tower  with  which  the  aisle  of 
the  transept  was  designed  to 
terminate.  These  stronger 
piers  take  the  main  thrusts  and 
relieve  the  one  between  them 
considerably.  Thus  we  have 
here  another  interesting  illus- 
tration of  the  logic  of  Gothic  de-  '*^'  ^'~ 
sign  in  which  uniformity  of  parts  is  unhesitatingly  disregarded 
where  structural  necessity  does  not  demand  it.  The  piers  of 
the  apse  have,  as  usual,  no  lateral  shafts;  but  in  front  they 
have  each  a  single  slender  shaft  as  at  Soissons  and  Reims ; 
while  on  the  side  of  the  aisle  they  are  powerfully  reenforced 
by  three  engaged  shafts  carrying  the  ribs  of  the  aisle  vaulting. 
Another  noticeable  feature  of  this  system  is  the  abacus  of  the 
great  pier  capital,  which,  instead  of  a  square  or  octagonal  form, 
has  a  broken  plan  which  exactly  corresponds  with  the  impost 
section.  These  nice  adjustments  are  managed  in  such  a  way  as 
to  show  that  the  designer  of  this  building  was  at  once  a  sagacious 
constructor  and  a  consummate  artist.  All  those  parts  of  the 
system  which  belong  to  the  original  fabric  are  remarkable  alike 

^  I  refer  to  the  main  piers  of  the  existing  sexpartite  system.     These  alone,  in  the 
straight  part  of  the  choir,  belong  to  the  original  construction. 


144 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


for  mechanical  fitness  and  for  beauty  of  design.  That  so  great 
a  master  should  not  have  taken  every  precaution  against  im- 
perfect execution,  and  should  not  have  been  content  to  work 
upon  a  safe  and  reasonable  scale,  is  much  to  be  regretted. 

The  aisle  system  of  Beauvais  is  peculiar  and  worthy  of 
notice.  The  vaulting  is  very  acutely  pointed,  and  the  longitu- 
dinal rib  (Fig.  70)  is  stilted  in  an  unusual  way.  This  rib  has 
no  supporting  shaft,  but  is  made  to  penetrate  the  diagonal  rib 

just  below  its  haunch ;  and  as  the 
longitudinal  rib  of  an  aisle  com- 
partment is  not  the  narrowest  arch 
in  the  vault  (as  it  is  in  the  clere- 
story), and  as  the  diagonal  is 
acutely  pointed,  the  relation  to 
each  other  of  the  curves  of  these 
two  arches  is  such  that  no  percep- 
tible wind  in  the  vault  surface 
results. 


We  have  now  enough  considered 
the  leading  types  of  forms  and  ad- 
justments in  the  internal  vaulting 
systems  of  the  great  French 
churches  of  the  best  epoch,  and 
we  may  pass  to  the  consideration 
of  the  forms  of  the  external  sup- 
ports which  complete  the  skeleton 
of  the  Gothic  structure.  We  have 
seen  (p.  78)  that  the  builders  of 
the  choir  of  St.-Germcr-de-Fly  in- 
troduced an  abutting  arch  against  the  piers  of  that  early 
structure ;  but  that  this  was  placed  beneath  the  aisle  roof,  and 
that  it  was  thus  both  ineffective  and  invisible.  It  is  impossible 
to  say  how  soon  after  this  the  true  Gothic  flying  buttress  spring- 
ing over  the  roof  of  the  aisle  was  brought  into  existence ;  but 
one  of  the  earliest  remaining  examples  of  this  important  and 
characteristic  member  of  the  Gothic  system  is  that  of  the 
Church  of  St.  Martin  of  Laon.  The  pier  buttress  {a,  Fig.  71) 
is  here  a  plain,  square-edged  mass  of  masonry  reenforced  by  the 
flying  buttress  {b)  which  springs  from  the  great  buttress  of  the 


nil 

Fig.  70.  —  Beauvais. 


GOTHIC  CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE 


'45 


aisle  {c).  The  flying  buttress  is  a  plain  half-arch  heavdly  loaded 
with  masonry  brought  up  to  a  right  line  which  slopes  a  little 
less  steeply  than  the  chord  of  the  arc,  and  is  covered  by  a 
flat  coping.  The  massive  lower  buttress  {c),  which  rises  through 
the  aisle  roof,  is  prepared  to  receive  the  flying  buttress  by  the 
set-off  {d\  and  being  carried  over  the  transverse  arch  of  the 


Fig.  71.  —  St.  Martin,  Laon. 

aisle,  it  abuts  against  the  pier  at  the  springing  of  the  vaults. 
The  vaults  are  thus  effectively  braced  above  and  below ;  but 
the  construction  is  needlessly  heavy.  More  lightness  and  ele- 
gance of  form  were  attained  in  the  nearly  contemporaneous 
flying  buttresses  of  the  choir  and  apse  of  St.  Germain-des-Pres 
(Fig.  43,  p.  100).  Here  the  intrados  of  the  arch  is  bevelled  on 
each  edge,  and  the  pier  buttress  has  an  engaged  shaft  with  a 

L 


146 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


fine  capital  of  the  early  type.  This  is  perhaps  the  earliest 
instance  of  a  shaft  in  this  position,  which  became  a  constant 
feature  of  the  developed  Gothic.  Flying  buttresses  of  still 
lighter  construction  occur  in  the  apse  of  St.  Leu  d'Esserent 
(Fig.  72),  which  dates  apparently  from  about  1170.  The 
pier  buttress  does  not  in  this  system  rise  above   the    head  of 


Fig.  72.  — Apse  of  St.  Leu  d'Esserent. 

the  abutting  arch.  The  curved  wall  of  the  apse  presents, 
therefore,  an  unbroken  surface  above  this  level,  while  below 
it  the  arrangement  is  like  that  of  St.  Martin  of  Laon.  The 
outer  buttress  has  three  set-offs  and  rises  to  a  considerable 
height  above  the  roof  of  the  aisles  before  the  arch,  which 
penetrates  its  inner  face,  is  sprung.  The  straight  slope  is 
not  here  continued  to  the  outer  face  of    the  buttress,  but   in- 


IV 


GOTHIC   CONSTRUCTION-  IN  FRANCE 


147 


tersects  the  flat  coping,  with  which  the  outer  portion  of  this 
buttress  is  finished  at  a  considerable  distance  within  the  edge. 
In  this  case  no  portion  of  a  lower  abutment  is  visible  above  the 
aisle  roof. 

Some  improvements   upon  these  forms  are   shown    in   the 
buttresses  (Fig.  73)  of  the  nave  of  the  same  building,  which  is  a 


L  ..'^fcSL 


Fig.  73. —  Nave  of  St.  Leu  d'Esserent. 

little  later  in  date.  The  buttress  of  the  apse,  by  the  number 
and  depth  of  its  set-offs,  has  a  slightly  sloping  general  outline, 
as  if  the  builders  had  considered  that  this  form  gave  increased 
efficiency.  The  same  inward  inclination  of  the  outer  face  of  the 
upright  buttress  occurs  frequently,  though  not  constantly,  in 
other  early  buildings.  It  was  found,  however,  that  this  was 
unnecessary  ;  and  accordingly  the  outer  faces  of  these  buttresses 


148  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  '        chap. 

of  the  nave  of  St.  Leu  rise  more  vertically,  and  have  a  more 
equal  volume  at  different  levels.  They  also  exhibit  the  further 
improvement  of  a  gabled,  instead  of  a  flat,  top.  This  form  is 
better  adapted  to  the  shedding  of  rain-water,  and  is  also  more 
pleasing  to  the  eye.  The  pier  buttress,  here  as  in  the  apse, 
does  not  rise  beyond  the  flying  buttress,  the  clerestory  wall 
above  being  unbroken  throughout  its  length.  This  is  the  case, 
also,  in  many  other  transitional  Gothic  buildings  —  as  in  the 
apse  of  St.  Remi  of  Reims  and  that  of  St.  Germain-des-Pres  of 
Paris.  This  pier  buttress  is  not,  as  in  the  preceding  examples, 
in  the  form  of  a  continuous  pilaster-like  member.  It  has  a  deep- 
set-off  near  the  roof  of  the  aisle,  supported  by  a  substructure  {a, 
Fig.  73)  which  rises  through  the  roof  and  is  carried  over  the 
transverse  arch  of  the  aisle  vault.  Beneath  this  set-off  the 
buttress  is  pierced  so  as  to  afford  a  passageway. 

Other  instances  of  early  flying  buttresses  still  extant,  and 
showing  the  same  general  characteristics,  are  those  of  the  apse 
of  Gonesse  (Seine-et-Oise)  and  the  nave  of  Auvers.  Many 
early  flying  buttresses  were  ill  adjusted  to  the  pressures  of 
the  vaults  from  want  of  accurate  knowledge  where  they  should 
abut.  Repeated  experiment  was  required  before  the  precise 
points  upon  which  they  should  be  brought  to  bear  was  ascer- 
tained. The  flying  buttress  'of  the  nave  of  St.  Leu  effectually 
meets  the  higher  pressures  exerted  by  the  vault,  but  those  nearer 
the  springing  were  not  securely  braced.  The  piers  began  ap- 
parently to  yield  soon  after  the  completion  of  the  work,  and 
it  was  found  necessary  to  insert  a  second  arch  beneath  the  first 
in  all  of  the  buttresses  along  the  nave  except  those  nearest  the 
east  and  west  ends,  where  enough  abutment  is  afforded  by  the 
towers.  Experience  at  length  showed  that  the  lateral  pressures 
of  vaults  cannot  be  concentrated  upon  any  single  point,  but 
that  they  may  be  gathered  upon  a  line  extending  for  a  consider- 
able distance  from  the  springing  upwards. 

In  the  buttress  system  of  the  nave  of  Noyon  (Fig.  74), 
which  appears  to  date  from  the  time  of  the  reconstruction  of 
the  vaults  early  in  the  thirteenth  century,  the  flying  buttress 
assumes  an  improved  form  in  being  deeper  —  thus  covering  a 
greater  vertical  extent  upon  the  pier  against  the  thrusts.  The 
intrados  of  the  arch,  which  in  St.  Leu  is  on  a  level  with  the 
impost  of  the  longitudinal  rib  of  the  vaulting,  is  here  at  Noyon 


IV 


GOTHIC   COXSTRUCTIO.V  IN  FRANCE 


149 


considerably  below  this  level,  while  its  superimposed  masonry 
reaches  higher  than  in  St.  Leu ;  and  instead  of  a  shallow  pier 
buttress  reaching  only  as  high  as  the  arch,  there  is  a  vig- 
orously salient  one  carried  up  to  the  top  of  the  clerestory 
wall.  The  flying  buttress  is  thus  brought  to  bear  upon  a  line 
(already  in  part  fortified  by  a  pier  buttress)  rather  than  upon  a 
point.  What  is  the  form  of 
the  structure  under  the  aisle 
roof,  I  do  not  know ;  but  as 
this  nave  has  a  high  vaulted 
triforium  gallery,  there  is  prob- 
ably an  abutment  of  some 
kind  carried  over  its  transverse 
arches  to  meet  the  pier  at  the 
springing  of  the  vaults.  It 
may  be  added  that  this  but- 
tress system  has  proved  effec- 
tual. The  vaults  appear  to  have 
stood  securely  for  more  than 
six  hundred  years.  The  straight 
sloping  back  of  the  flying  but- 
tress, as  well  as  the  top  of  the 
upright  buttress,  here  assumes 
the  gabled  form  ;  and  a  small 
finial  upon  the  gable  marks 
perhaps  the  first  attempt  to 
render  pleasing  by  ornament 
this  important  functional  mem- 
ber. But  while  the  flying  but- 
tress of  Noyon  is  an  improve- 
ment on  those  of  the  preceding 
form  in  offering  resistance  to 
distance  up  and  down  the  pier,  it  is  not  altogether  an  improve- 
ment architecturally.  It  has  not  the  elegance  of  most  other 
early  Gothic  buttresses.  It  is  even  heavier  than  that  of  St. 
Martin  of  Laon. 

In  the  apse  and  choir  of  Soissons,  which  dates  from  about 
the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century,  still  further  improve- 
ments in  the  form  of  the  flying  buttress  were  made.  Here  (Fig. 
75)  two  arches  were  established  in  the  original  design,  and  these 


Fig.  74. —  Nave  of  Noyon. 

the  vault  thrusts  for  a  greater 


ISO 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


are  so  adjusted  that  the  thrusts  of  the  vaulting  are  completely 
met.  The  lower  arch  abuts  against  the  springing,  and  the 
upper  one  meets  the  pressures  of  the  haunches.  Thenceforth 
the  employment  of  two  arches  in  the  buttress  system  became 
practically  constant.  The  top  of  the  inner  half  of  the  great 
outer  buttress  here  at  Soissons  is  carried  up  above  the  back  of 

the  flying  buttress,  adding  by  its 
weight  to  the  stability  of  the  whole. 
The  upper  surfaces  all  have  the 
gabled  form,  and  over  each  gable 
end  an  elaborate  finial  is  placed. 
The  pier  buttress  has  an  engaged 
shaft  with  base  and  capital  under 
each  arch  —  as  in  the  earlier  in- 
stances of  St.-Gerraain-des-Pres  of 
Paris  and  St.  Remi  of  Reims. 

The  magnificent  buttress  sys- 
tem of  the  Cathedral  of  Meaux, 
which  is  nearly  contemporaneous 
with  Soissons,  has  (Fig.  51,  p.  121) 
the  double  form  that  is  necessitated 
by  the  existence  of  double  aisles  — 
as  in  the  original  system  of  the 
Cathedral  of  Paris  already  de- 
scribed (p.  112).  At  Meaux  the 
inner  part  of  the  system  has  two 
arches  as  at  Soissons,  while  the 
outer  part  has  but  one  arch. 

Not  long  after  were  constructed 
the  grand  and  unique  flying  but- 
tresses of  the  Cathedral  of  Chartres, 
in  which  the  two  arches  are  connected  by  an  elegant  shafted 
arcade.  These  are  at  once  powerful  abutments  and  effective 
architectural  features. 

But  the  finest  development  of  the  flying  buttress,  in  a  single- 
aisled  building,  is  that  of  the  nave  of  the  Cathedral  of  Amiens 
(Fig.  ^6);  while  the  fullest  expression  of  the  Gothic  spiriT;  in 
this  member  as  adjusted  to  a  double-aisled  construction  is  found 
in  the  choir  and  apse  of  Reims  (Fig.  jy). 

The  evolution  and  adjustment  of  the  pinnacle,  which  is  a 


Fig.  75.  —  Apse  of  Soissons. 


IV 


GOTHIC   CONSTRUCTIOIV  IN"  FRANCE 


151 


conspicuous  feature  in  the  developed  style,  was  rapid  after  the 
advantage  of  weighting  the  top  of  the  buttress  was  recognized. 
At  Chartres,  where  the  superimposed  weight  terminates  in  the 
form  of  a  truncated  pyramid  on  an  oblong  base  instead  of  a 
gabled  coping  like  that  of  Soissons,  we  get  what  appears  to  be 
one  of  the  intermediate  steps  of  this  development.  But  at 
Chartres,  as  at  Soissons,  the 
weighting  mass  of  masonry  is 
placed  over  the  inner  portion 
of  the  buttress.  It  was,  however, 
presently  seen  that  it  would  be 
more  effectual  if  placed  farther 
out.  Accordingly  at  Amiens  it 
is  set  flush  with  the  outer  face  of 
the  buttress.  Here  the  form 
was  originally  (as  shown  in  Fig-. 
^6^  that  of  an  upright  rectan- 
gular mass  of  masonry,  orna- 
mented on  each  face  with  a 
shafted  arch  and  a  richly 
sculptured  cornice,  crowned  with 
a  steep  pyramid  having  crocketed 
angles,  and  terminating  in  a 
finial.  The  Gothic  pinnacle  here 
stands  forth  in  its  most  monu- 
mental form,  and  in  essential 
completeness.  But  the  inventive 
faculties  of  the  Gothic  artists 
were  fertile  in  variations  upon 
this  feature  (in  which,  as  in  all 
other  features  of  the  system, 
constructive      and      ornamental 

functions  are  admirably  combined),  and  among  the  grandest 
products  of  their  inventive  skill  are  the  magnificent  pinnacles 
of   the  apse  of    Reims  (Fig.   yy),   which  date   from  about  the 

^  The  upper  portions  of  the  buttresses  of  the  nave  of  Amiens  have  heen  remodelled 
in  the  Flaml)oyant  style  with  exception  of  the  one  next  to  the  transept,  which  retains 
its  original  character  in  all  but  the  pinnacle.  This  pinnacle,  though  altere<i,  is  of  an 
earlier  and  more  simple  type  than  the  rest;  and  it  seems  to  justify  the  restoration 
given  by  Viollet-le-Duc,  s.v.  Cathedrale  (Fig.  20,  p.  329),  from  which  that  of  my 
illustration  is  taken.     The  rest  of  the  illustration  is  drawn  from  a  photograph. 


Fk;.  76.  —  Nave  of  Amiens. 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


middle  of  the  thirteenth  century.  In  the  design  of  these  the 
inner  portion  of  the  top  of  the  buttress  is  capped  with  a  gable, 
while  the  outer  portion  consists  of  an  open  shafted  canopy,  sur- 
mounted by  a  massive  octagonal  pyramid  with  four  lesser  pyra- 
mids covering  the  angles  of  the  square  base  on  which  they  rest. 
Thus  were  the  forms  of  the  external  supports,  no  less  than  those 


Fig.  "]■}.  —  Apse  of  Reims. 


of  the  interior,  gradually  developed  as  the  structural  exigencies 
of  the  system  were  more  and  more  perfectly  apprehended,  and 
in  such  a  manner  that  architectural  beauty,  as  well  as  functional 
fitness,  was  ever  secured.  These  hard-working  abutments  thus 
became  at  length  the  most  strikingly  ornamental  features  of 
the  Gothic  exterior,  insomuch  that  their  important  mechanical 
office  has  been  sometimes  lost  sight  of.  In  French  Gothic, 
howev^er,  after  1160  the  stability  of  the  structure  is  absolutely 
dependent  upon  them. 


CHAPTER   V 

GOTHIC   CONSTRUCnON   IN   FRANXE 

III.    Modes  of  Enxlosure  and  General  Forms 

From  the  vaults  and  their  internal  and  external  supports, 
which  together  constitute  the  essential  structure,  we  may  now 
pass  to  the  consideration  of  modes  of  enclosure. 

In  the  transitional  buildings  massive  walls  filled  the  spaces 
between  the  piers  much  as  they  had  done  in  Romanesque  con- 
structions. The  openings  remained  small  and  the  round  arch 
w^as  not  seldom  retained  in  them,  as  at  Noyon  and  Senlis.  The 
nave  of  the  Cathedral  of  Paris  affords  a  good  illustration  at  once 
of  the  early  forms  of  wall  and  opening,  and  of  the  changes  that 
were  quickly  introduced,  here  and  elsewhere,  as  the  Gothic  idea 
began  to  take  more  complete  form  in  the  minds  of  the  builders. 
Of  the  two  bays  of  the  clerestory  of  that  building  shown  in 
Fig.  78,^  the  one  on  the  beholder's  right  illustrates  the  design 
according  to  which  the  whole  nave  was  originally  built.-  It  is  the 
bay  adjoining  the  transept,  and  the  great  pier  c  is  one  of  the 
four  piers  of  the  crossing.  In  this  bay  the  clerestory  window  is 
a  simple  pointed  arched  opening  above  the  level  of  the  spring- 
ing of  the  vaults ;  and,  although  larger  than  such  openings  had 
usually  been  in  Romanesque  design,  it  is  nevertheless  only  an 
opening  in  a  wall  in  which  the  area  of  the  solid  is  still  greater 
than  that  of  the  void.  Beneath  the  clerestory  is  a  circular  open- 
ing into  the  upper  triforium,  or  the  space  between  the  vault  of 
the  triforium  gallery  and  the  timber  roof  which  covers  it.  This 
opening  is  divided  by  a  simple  form  of  tracery  which  is  worthy 
of  notice  as  one  of  the  earliest  extant  instances  of  tracery.  The 
whole  design  exhibits  a  good  deal  of  massive  wall  space,  and  an 
eye  not  quick  to  recognize  the  main  structural  features  might 

1  Tliis  being  a  perspective  view,  looking  upwards  from  the  opposite  triforium,  all 
the  forms  appear  a  little  foreshortened. 

^  Cf  I)e  C'lhihermy.  Itiiiiraire  Arc/icologujue  de  Paris,  pp.  So,  81. 

153 


154 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


not  readily  perceive  that  this  is  really  a  building  whose  stability 
depends  primarily  not  upon  its  walls,  but  upon  its  framework. 

Early  in  the  thirteenth  century  the  original  vaults  of  this 
nave,  which  had  been  completed  towards  the  close  of  the  pre- 
ceding century,  were  damaged  by  fire  and  had  to  be  repaired.^ 
It  would  appear,  indeed,  that   their    lateral  cells  were  wholly 


Fig.  78.  —  Clerestory,  Nave  of  Paris. 

reconstructed  and  somewhat  changed  in  form ;  for  the  original 
longitudinal  ribs,  which  remain  in  place,  are  considerably  below 
the  present  vault  surfaces  2  (as  may  be  seen  in  Fig.  78).     Con- 

1  Cf.  ViolIet-le-Duc,  s.v.  Cathedrale,  p.  292. 

-  They  are  so  in  some,  though  not  in  all,  of  the  bays.  Indeed,  great  and  very 
puzzling  variations  occur  in  the  different  Ijays  of  this  clerestory.  For  instance,  in 
the  first  five  bays  on  the  north  side  of  the  nave,  counting  from  the  transept,  the 
original  longitudinal  ribs  are  surmounted  by  other  arches,  in  each  of  which  the  ex- 
trados  is  more  acutely  pointed  than  the  intrados,  which  fallows  the  form  of  the 
original  rib, —  thus  giving  a  more  pointed  shape  to  the  vault  cell.  But  the  sixth, 
seventh,  and  eighth  bays  have  their  old  ribs  raised  by  stilting  to  the  new  level.  In 
the  sixth  and  seventh  bays  the  outline  of  the  window  head  is  not  concentric  with  its 
archivolt,  but  is  rendered  more  pointed  by  a  singular  filling  in  between  the  tracery 
and  the  archivolt,  —  as  in  F'ig.  79. 


GOTHIC   COXSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE 


155 


temporaneously  with  this  repairing  and  remodelling  of  these 
nave  vaults,  great  changes  were  making  in  other  parts  of  the 
building,  chiefly  in  the  clerestory,  in  conformity  with  develop- 
ments that  had  elsewhere  taken  place.  Among  these  develop- 
ments was  the  enlargement  of  apertures,  and  their  subdivision 
by  mullions  and  simple  forms  of  tracery.  The  clerestory 
apertures  of  the  nave  of  St.  Leu  d'Esserent  (Fig.  80)  show  the 
first  step  in  this  direction  —  which  consisted  in  the  grouping  of 
two  pointed  openings  with  a  circular  one  under  an  enclosing 
pointed  arch.  The  rudiments  of  this  form  of  compound  opening 
reach  back  to  times  anterior  to  those  of  all  Western  Romanesque 
art,  though  they  rarely,  if  ever,  occur 
in  any  variety  of  Western  Romanesque. 
Adumbrations  of  it  are  found  in  the 
architecture  of  Central  Syria  as  early 
as  the  sixth  century  —  as  in  the  Church 
of  Qalb-Louzeh,  where  two  round- 
arched  openings  are  grouped  with  a 
circular  one  (Fig.  81),  but  without  an 
embracing  arch.  In  the  later  Byzantine 
style  the  same  grouping  frequently  oc- 
curs with  the  addition  of  the  embracing 
arch,  as  in  Fig.  82,  from  a  small  church 
in  Athens.  In  the  transitional  Gothic 
it  first,  perhaps,  appears  internally,  as  in  the  triforium  of  St. 
Germer  (Oise),  and  later  in  the  triforium  of  the  nave  of  Noyon, 
—  where  a  trefoil  takes  the  place  of  the  circle  in  the  piercing  of 
the  tympanum.  In  the  clerestory  of  Noyon  two  round-headed 
windows  are  placed  side  by  side,  while  the  tympanum  above 
remains  solid.  But  now  a  new  and  far-reaching  development 
of  these  germ  forms  had  begun,  the  progress  of  which  was  most 
rapid.  In  the  openings  of  the  clerestory  of  the  nave  of  St. 
Leu,  coupled  pointed  arches  are  surmounted  by  an  open  circle 
having  a  thinner  plate,  or  panel,  of  stone  pierced  with  a  si.x- 
foiled  opening.  The  plane  of  masonry  pierced  by  the  main 
openings  is  in  retreat  from  the  face  of  the  clerestory  wall,  and 
a  moulded  and  shafted  arch  flush  with  this  wall  throws  the 
whole  design  into  two  orders.  The  scheme  is  very  beautiful  in 
its  monumental  simplicity.  Similar  openings,  with  more  en- 
riched archivolts,   occur  in  the  nearly   contemporaneous  clere- 


FlG.  79. 


156 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP, 


Story  of  the  choir  of  Soissons.  In  such  examples  we  have 
the  beginnings  of  the  typical  Gothic  opening  in  which  a  large 
space  is  subdivided  by  mullions  and  tracery  of  graceful  forms 
and  elegant  profiles  ;  and  in  these  members  no  less  than  in  other 
parts  of  the  Gothic  building,  constructive  exigencies  were,  as  we 


Fig.  8o.  — St.  Leu  d'Esserent. 

shall  presently  see,  the  moving  cause  of  change  in  the  forms. 
Even  the  enlargement  of  the  opening  was  due  primarily  to  the 
nature  of  the  construction  rather  than  to  any  original  desire  for 
great  size,  though  the  value  of  magnitude  was  doubtless  more 
and  more  appreciated  as  constructive  development  went  on. 

The  apertures  of  the  clerestories  of  St.  Leu  and  of  Soissons 
were    followed    almost    immediately    by   those    of    the    apsidal 


GOTHIC   CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE 


157 


chapels  of  the  Cathedral  of  Reims  (Fig.  83),  which  date  from 
about  1212;  and,  though  designed  on  the  same  general  scheme, 
have  an  entirely  new  char- 
acter. For  here,  instead  of 
a  solid  tympanum  with  a 
circular  piercing,  we  have  the 
earliest  form  of  tracery  proper 
produced  by  building  up  an 
open  framework  of  two 
pointed  arches  and  a  circle 
enclosing  a  sexfoil.  Thus, 
instead  of  grouped  openings, 
as  at  St.  Leu  and  Soissons, 
we  have  a  great  single  open- 
ing divided  by  slender  bars 
of    stone.       These   bars    are 


Fig.  81.— Qalb-Louzeh. 


not  finished  with  flat  surfaces,  as  if  the  openings  were  merely 
cut  through  the  former  plain  tympanum,  but  are  worked  into 

agreeable  forms,  giving 
ir7~r^^^^^^^^T][p7~~71~  sections  composed  of 
-JL>;i<^g:S^Xllllll-'??v^^t- ■  '  -'11 —  rounds  and  hollows  as- 
sociated with  fillets  (Sec- 
tion b,  Fig.  184,  p.  335)- 
The  rounds  or  roll 
mouldings  become  shafts 
by  the  addition  of  bases 
and  capitals  on  the  jambs 
and  mullions.  Thus  was 
the  so-called  plate  trac- 
ery converted  into  true 
Gothic  or  bar  tracery.^ 

The  great  change 
referred  to  above,  which 
was     wrought     in     the 

Fig.  82.  — Byzantine  Church  in  .Athens.  clcrCStory  of    Paris   SOOn 


1  M.  Demaison,  in  an  instructive  article  entitled  "  Les  Architectes  de  la  Cathedrale 
de  Reims,"  published  in  the  Bulletin  Archeologiqtic  for  the  year  1894,  refers  to  the 
Abbey  Church  of  Orbais  as  having  openings  like  those  of  Reims  of  an  earlier  date. 
The  Church  of  Orbais  was  begun,  he  finds,  aliout  a.d.  1200,  and  presumably  by  the 
same  architect  (Jean  d'Orbais)  who  designed  the  earlier  portions  of  Reims. 


158 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


after    its    first    completion,    consisted    mainly   in    substituting 
enlarged    and    divided    openings,    like   those    of    the    apse   of 


-^^iiiigigR-;:?^iTa;MSi-siE: 


Fig.  83.  —  Apse  of  Reims. 

Reims,   for  the  smaller  ones   of   the    primitive    design.      But 
these  new   openings  of    Paris   mark   one    further    step    in   the 


V  GOTHIC   CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE  159 

development  of  tracery.  The  tracery  of  Reims,  as  will  be 
seen  (Fig.  83),  is  made  up  of  many  small  pieces  of  stone 
jointed  as  in  ordinary  arch  construction;  while  that  of  Paris 
is  composed  of  few  larger  pieces.  In  this  way  it  became 
possible  to  make  the  tracery  bars  much  more  slender  and 
yet  to  secure  equal  strength.  One  of  these  inserted  clere- 
story windows  is  seen  in  the  left  bay  in  Fig.  78.  To  effect  the 
change  the  pretty  circular  opening  over  the  triforium  gallery, 
seen  in  the  restored  bay  to  the  right,  had  to  be  sacrificed,  and 
a  string-course  was  inserted  far  below  the  springing  of  the 
vaults,  and  down  to  this  level  the  splays  of  the  new  openings 
were  brought.  The  tracery. is  even  more  simple  than  that  of 
Reims,  the  sexfoil  within  the  circle  being  omitted;  but  the  work 
is  remarkable  for  its  lightness  and  elegance.  The  form  of  the 
window  head  is  changed  from  that  of  the  original  window  into 
a  more  acutely  pointed  arch  which  is  nearly  concentric  with 
the  arch  of  the  remodelled  vault  above  it.^  Both  of  the  new 
arches  disagree  strikingly  with  the  old  longitudinal  rib  which 
remains  undisturbed.  Such  instances  of  the  survival  of  por- 
tions of  original  work  where  occasion  has  given  rise  to  altera- 
tion are  numerous  in  mediaeval  work;  and  they  add  much  to 
the  interest  and  historic  value  of  these  monuments. 

It  may  be  questioned  whether  this  alteration  of  the  clere- 
story windows  of  Paris  was  an  improvement  to  the  building. 
The  harmony  and  severe  beauty  of  the  old  design,  with  the 
unique  circular  opening  of  the  upper  triforium,  are  somewhat 
impaired  by  the  change.  Moreover,  while  the  tracery  of  the 
new  openings  is,  in  its  mode  of  construction  and  in  the  slender- 
ness  of  its  parts,  an  advance  upon  that  of  Reims,  the  open- 
ings themselves,  in  their  relationship  to  the  building,  are  less 
Gothic  in  character,  since  they  do  not  fill  the  whole  space 
between  the  piers. 

The  utmost  enlargement  of  the  opening  appears  first  to 
have  been  reached  in  the  apsidal  chapels  of  the  ground  story. 
In  some  early  transitional  buildings,  as  in  St.  Denis  and  Senlis, 
the  openings  in  these  chapels  fill  almost  the  whole  space,  but 
they  are  as  yet  too  small  to  need  dividing  members.     In  the 

'  Many  other  particulars  concerning  the  changes  that  were  made  in  this  building 
at  this  time  are  given  by  VioUet-le-Duc,  s.v.  Construction,  and  elsewhere;  but  those 
noticed  aijove  are,  for  the  most  part,  not  referred  to  by  him. 


i6o  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

apse  of  Reims  the  opening  fills  the  entire  space  between  the 
piers,  and  is  so  large  as  to  require  the  dividing  mullion  and 
tracery. 

It  was  at  length  seen  that,  with  the  now  complete  organic 
framework  which  gave  strength  to  the  building,  the  walls  might 
be  practically  dispensed  with,  and  that  the  openings  might 
always  be  made  equal  to  the  whole  space  between  the  piers. 
With  the  recognition  of  this  fact  the  interest  in  the  art  of 
colour  design  in  stained  glass  quickly  increased,  and  it  became 
the  univer&al  practice  to  fill  the  aisles  and  clerestory  with  re- 
splendent fields  of  translucent  mosaic,  the  walls  being  wholly 
suppressed  from  a  height  only  a  few  feet  above  the  pavement. 

The  mullions  and  tracery  by  which  these  great  openings 
were  divided  were  necessary  to  support  the  expanses  of  enclos- 
ing glass  against  the  force  of  winds ;  and  the  greater  the  area 
of  the  opening,  the  larger  was  the  number  of  dividing  members 
required  to  afford  this  support.  Thus  was  developed  the  elabo- 
rately subdivided,  and  highly  ornamental,  tracery  which  enriches 
the  great  openings  of  developed  Gothic  buildings. 

This  enlargement  of  the  aisle  and  clerestory  openings,  to 
the  extent  of  doing  away,  except  at  the  base  of  the  ground 
story,  with  all  solid  masonry  beneath  the  vault  rib,  resulted  in 
an  important  simplification  of  the  structure  —  the  archivolt  of 
the  opening  and  the  longitudinal  rib  of  the  vault  becoming  one 
and  the  same  member,  while  the  supporting  shaft  of  this  arch 
became  a  member  of  the  window  jamb,  as  in  the  clerestory 
of  Amiens  (Fig.  66  and  Plate  III).  In  Amiens,  too,  another 
noticeable  development  occurs ;  namely,  the  uniting  of  the 
clerestory  and  triforium  into  one  grand  composition  by  the 
prolongation  of  the  longitudinal  rib  shafts  and  the  shaft  of 
the  central  mullion  downward  to  the  level  of  the  triforium 
string.  Each  bay  of  the  triforium  is  thus  subdivided  into  two 
lesser  bays  (Plate  III). 

In  the  developed  Gothic  style  the  triforium  opening  is  of 
two  main  types.  The  first  consists  of  a  range  of  four  shafted 
arches,  as  at  Chartres,  Soissons,  and  Reims ;  while  in  the 
second  we  have  three  arches  embraced  by  a  great  arch  with 
a  pierced  tympanum,  as  at  Paris ;  and  the  same  scheme  is 
often  doubled,  as  at  Amiens.  The  single  embracing  arch 
usually  occurs  where  the  triforium  is  a  vaulted  gallery. 


P\&te    III. 


AMIENS     CATHEDRAL. 
Clerestory  of  Xave 


V  GOTHIC  CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE  i6i 

In  France  the  triforium,  when  not  a  vaulted  gallery,  is  a 
narrow  passageway  enclosed  by  a  thin  wall  that  shuts  off 
from  view  the  timber  roof  over  the  aisle  vaulting,  and  gives 
a  monumental  aspect  to  this  part  of  the  structure  that  would 
be  wanting  were  this  timber  roof  exposed  to  view. 

We  have  now  examined  the  leading  structural  develop- 
ments of  French  Gothic  buildings,  so  far  as  concerns  their 
longitudinal  bays.  It  remains  to  examine  corresponding  de- 
velopments of  the  eastern  and  western  terminations,  the  forms 
of  transepts,  and  the  forms  and  adjustments  of  towers  and 
spires.  The  traditional  semicircular  apse,  greatly  enlarged, 
and,  in  the  perfected  style,  changed  to  a  polygonal  plan,  is 
the  most  characteristic  eastern  termination  of  the  larger  French 
churches.  The  square  east  end  of  Laon  Cathedral  is  the  result 
of  an  alteration  made  some  time  after  the  original  completion 
of  the  edifice,  and  is  exceptional  among  the  larger  Gothic 
edifices  of  France.  In  churches  of  smaller  size,  however, 
square  east  ends  are  numerous,  and  occur  at  all  periods  of 
Gothic  art,  as  at  Noel  St.  Martin,  Marissel,  Gournay,  Bury, 
Gisors,  St.  Vincent  of  Senlis,  Auvers,  and  many  others.  Yet 
the  round,  or  polygonal,  form  remains  the  most  common,  and 
may  be  regarded  as  most  truly  characteristic. 

A  more  appropriate,  or  more  beautiful,  eastern  termination 
than  the  Gothic  apse  could  hardly  be  conceived.  No  part  of 
the  edifice  does  more  honour  to  the  Gothic  builders.  The  low 
Romanesque  apse,  covered  with  the  primitive  semi-dome,  and 
enclosed  with  its  simple  wall,  presented  no  constructive  diffi- 
culties, and  produced  no  imposing  effect.  But  the  soaring 
French  cJicvct,  with  its  many-celled  vault,  its  arcaded  stories, 
its  circling  aisles,  and  its  radial  chapels,  taxed  the  utmost 
inventive  power  and  entranced  the  eye  of  the  beholder. 

We  have  already  (pp.  70,  73-74)  traced  partially  the  early 
development  of  the  Gothic  apse.  We  may  now  examine  some 
further  characteristics  of  its  form  in  both  early  and  later  stages 
of  advance.  We  saw  (p.  74)  that  the  apse  of  St.  Germer  is 
divided  into  five  cells  by  ribs  converging  on  the  crown  of  the 
transverse  rib  of  the  first  bay  of  the  choir  (Fig.  84).  This  adjust- 
ment of  the  ribs  is  the  same  that  had  been  established  in  more 
primitive  apses  where,  as  in  Berzy-le-Sec,  described  on  p.  70, 


1 62 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


the  half-domed  vault  survives  with  the  addition  of  salient  ribs. 

But  it  is  not  a  good  adjustment,  for  the  thrusts  of  these  ribs  are 

against  the  transverse  rib 
at  a  point  which  is  not 
strengthened  by  any  abut- 
ting members.  Where 
the  transverse  rib  is  very 
heavy,  as  in  St.  Germer 
and  the  small  earlier 
churches  to  which  ribbed 
apses  are  adjusted,  the 
structure  may  be  secure  ; 
but  with  the  lighter  ribs 
of  the  more  advanced 
monuments  it  is  less  so. 
And  whether  actually  se- 

FlG.  84. -St.  Germer-de-Fly.  curC    Or   not,  this  mode  of 

adjustment  is  objectionable,  because  it  does  not  afford  visible 
evidence  of  stability.  In 
the  apse  of  Noyon,  which 
is  perhaps  the  next  earliest 
Gothic  apse  on  a  large 
scale  now  extant,  we  have 
a  different  arrangement  in 
which  effective  abutment 
is  secured.  Here,  as  in 
St.  Germer,  the  vault  is 
divided  into  five  cells,  by 
ribs  converging  on  the 
transverse  rib  of  the  first 
bay  of  the  choir,  but  they 
are  met  by  two  abutting 
ribs  rising  from  the  oppo- 
site direction.  In  order 
to  effect  this  abutment 
the  first  rectangular  vault 
of  the  choir  is  made  tri- 
partite. That  is,  instead 
of  the  usual  diagonal  ribs 


Fig.  85. —  Noyon. 


of  such   a  vault,   which   would  intersect  in  the  centre   of  the 


GOTHIC  CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE 


163 


compartment,  oblique  ribs  are  sprung  from  the  western  piers 
only,  and  are  brought  to  bear  on  the  crown  of  the  eastern 
transverse  rib  (Fig.  85).  A  similar  arrangement  occurs  in 
the  Church  of  St.  Leu  d'Esserent  and  in  the  cathedrals  of 
Auxerre  and  Rouen. 

The  vast  and  majestic  apse  of  the  Cathedral  of  Paris  followed 
soon  after  that  of  Noyon ;  and  it  furnishes  another  type  of 
structure  in  respect  to  the 
relationship  between  the 
vault  of  the  apse  and 
the  vaulting  of  the  choir. 
The  apsidal  vault  of  Paris 
is,  like  that  of  Noyon,  in 
five  cells,  with  its  ribs  in- 
tersecting in  the  same 
manner  on  the  first  trans- 
verse rib,  and  abutted  as 
before  by  ribs  in  the  ad- 
joining rectangular  bay 
brought  to  bear  against 
their  thrusts.  But  in  this 
case  the  arrangement  is 
a  natural  one,  which  it  is 
not  in  Noyon.  For  in 
Noyon  the  system  of  vault- 
ing in  the  choir  is  quad- 
ripartite, and  hence  the 
ribs  of  the  vault  adjoining 
the  apse  could  not  natu- 
rally furnish  an  abutment 
for  those  of  the  apse.  In  order  to  effect  the  abutment  this 
vault  had  to  be  made  tripartite  —  architectural  uniformity  being 
sacrificed,  in  a  truly  Gothic  spirit,  to  constructive  exigency. 
But  in  Paris  (Fig.  86)  the  vaulting  is  sexpartite,  and  the  plan  is 
so  arranged  that  the  apsidal  vault  joins  the  half  of  a  sexpartite 
compartment  at  the  intermediate  transverse  rib.  This  half-vault 
is  naturally  tripartite,  and  so  its  ribs  intersect  at  the  point  on 
which  the  apsidal  ribs  meet,  and  the  needed  abutment  is  secured. 
The  same  arrangement  occurs  at  Sens  and  at  Bourgcs ;  and  for 
a  sexpartite  system  no  better  arrangement  could  be  devised 


164 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


But  for  quadripartite  vaulting,  as  at  Noyon,  this  arrangement, 
though  logical  and  effectual  in  point  of  construction,  is  not  a 
good  one,  because  it  needlessly  breaks  up  the  uniformity  of  the 
choir  vaults.  The  marked  disparity  which  it  occasions  between 
the  easternmost  compartment  of  the  vaulting  and  the  other 
compartments  was  a  defect  which  the  builders  were  not  slow  to 
correct.  A  better  adjustment  of  the  apsidal  ribs  joining  a 
quadripartite  system  was  developed  at  Chartres  (Fig.  87)  and 
afterwards  perfected  at  Amiens.  It  will  be  seen  that  at 
Noyon  (Fig.    85)  the   plan  of  the  apse  is  about  semicircular, 


Fig.  87.  — Chartres. 


so  that  the  ribs  of  its  vault  are  of  equal  length,  being 
radii,  and  thus  naturally  meet  on  the  crown  of  the  transverse 
rib  which  is  at  the  centre.  At  Paris  (Fig.  86)  the  form 
of  the  apse  is  an  arc  of  more  than  a  half-circle,  hence  its 
centre  is  eastward  of  the  crown  of  the  transverse  rib.  Never- 
theless the  apsidal  ribs  meet,  as  before,  on  that  crown.  In 
order  to  effect  this  they  have  to  be  lengthened,  and  are  neces- 
sarily of  unequal  length.  At  Chartres  the  plan  of  the  apse  is  a 
polygon  set  out  on  about  a  half-circle,  and  thus  the  crown  of 
the  transverse  rib  is  near  the  centre  of  the  curve ;  but  the  apsi- 
dal ribs  are  not  brought  forward  to  this  point,  they  are  made  to 
intersect  on  a  point  considerably  eastward  of  the  centre.  This 
is  done  in  order  to  allow  place  for  two   additional  ribs  which 


GOTHIC   COXSTRUCTIOiV  IX  FRANCE 


165 


spring  from  the  piers  that  carry  the  transverse  rib  and,  con- 
verging on  the  point  where  the  other  ribs  meet,  effectually  meet 
their  thrusts.  By  this  means  the  stability  of  the  vault  of  the 
apse  is  rendered  independent  of  the  vaulting  of  the  choir.  The 
awkward  expedient  of  constructing  a  tripartite  vault  for  the 
sake  of  abutment  was  thus  no  longer  necessary  ;  and  the  vaulting 
of  the  choir  could  henceforth  be  uniformly  quadripartite.  The 
introduction  of  the  two  additional  ribs  gave  the  apsidal  vault 
eight,   instead   of    five,   cells;    and  the  plan  of  the   apse  thus 


became  a  polygon  of  seven  sides.  This  was  a  great  improve- 
ment, but  a  completely  satisfactory  form  of  apsidal  vault  was 
not  yet  reached.  For  the  placing  of  the  point  of  intersection 
backward  of  the  centre  still  necessitated  an  awkward  inequality 
in  the  lengths  of  the  ribs.  A  final  solution  of  the  difficulties,  in 
this  part  of  apsidal  vault  construction,  which  had  embarrassed 
the  earlier  builders  was  reached  at  Amiens.  In  the  plan  (Fig.  88) 
of  this  great  apse,  the  polygon  is  set  out  on  an  arc  of  more  than 
a  half-circle,  and  thus  room  is  gained  for  the  abutting  ribs  with- 
out removing  the  point  of  intersection  from  the  centre.  These 
ribs,  and  all  the  other  ribs  of  the  vault,  are  radii  of  the  arc ;  and 


1 66  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

are  hence  of  equal  length,  and  the  effect  of  the  vault  is  har- 
monious. 

In  elevation  the  bays  of  the  apse  are  substantially  like  those 
of  the  nave  and  choir,  except  that  they  are  narrower  and,  in 
early  monuments,  on  a  curved  plan.  The  triforium  and  clere- 
story openings  have  usually  fewer  subdivisions  than  the  wider 
ones  of  the  straight  part  of  the  edifice.  In  early  buildings, 
like  Noyon  and  Senlis,  they  are  often  wholly  undivided. 
Among  the  finest  earlier  Gothic  apses  is  that  of  the  Church  of 
St.  Remi  of  Reims,  which  dates  from  about  ii/o.^  Below  the 
clerestory  it  closely  resembles  the  apse  of  Paris,  its  lower 
piers,  its  vaulting  shafts,  and  the  forms  of  its  ground-story  and 
triforium  arcades  (like  Paris  it  has  a  vaulted  triforium  gallery) 
being  almost  identical  in  design.  It  is,  perhaps,  a  little  in 
advance  of  the  apse  of  Paris  in  general  lightness  of  construc- 
tion. As  in  the  Cathedral  of  JMoyon,  there  is  a  second  tri- 
forium, and  it  is  noticeable  that  this  is  united  with  the  clere- 
story by  shafts  reaching  through  both.  St.  Remi  thus  presents 
an  early  instance  of  that  treatment  of  clerestory  and  triforium 
which  is  carried  out  so  grandly  in  the  nave  of  Amiens.^  The 
clerestory  and  the  vaulted  gallery  have,  in  each  bay,  a  group 
of  three  openings  of  which  the  central  one  is  the  largest;  and 
this  group  fills  the  whole  space  between  the  piers.  This  type 
of  opening  occurs  in  a  few  other  early  Gothic  buildings  — •  as  in 
the  clerestory  of  the  south  transept  of  Soissons,  and  a  simpler 
form  of  it,  consisting  of  only  two  openings,  in  that  of  St.-Ger- 
main-des-Pres.  It  is  not,  however,  a  distinctly  Gothic  type  on 
account  of  the  necessary  survival  in  the  spandrels  of  portions 
of  the  clerestory  wall.  In  fully  developed  Gothic  buildings  it 
is  rarely,  if  ever,  found. 

The  apse  of  St.  Remi  affords  another  illustration  of  the 
fact  that  the  Gothic  style  was  but  an  evolution  out  of  the 
Romanesque.  Externally  the  plain  rounded  form  and  the  gen- 
eral quietness  of  the  design  recall  the  older  style,  while  the  bold 
flying  buttresses,  and  the  enlarged  openings,  bespeak  a  struc- 
ture on  Gothic  principles.  It  also  shows  again  that  Gothic 
architecture    developed    from    within  —  the    internal    changes 

^  Cf.  Demaison,  Les  Architcctes  de  la  Caih'edrale  de  Reims,  p.  25. 
-  The  same  treatment  occurs,  also,  in  some  other  early  monuments,  as  in  the  choir 
of  St.-Germain-des-Pres  of  Paris. 


GOTHIC  CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE 


167 


necessitating  those  of  the  exterior;  and  that  the  Gothic  ex- 
pression is  given  to  the  exterior  by  the  large  structural  features, 
while  as  yet  no  corresponding  modification  of  lesser  details 
takes  place  (Figs.  89  and  90). 


Fk;.  89. -St.  Remi,  Reims. 


We  have  seen  (pp.  62,  71)  that  the  vaulting  of  the  apsidal 
aisle  presented  difficulties  which  had  embarrassed  the  early 
constructors.  These  difficulties,  which  grew  out  of  the  curved 
trapezoidal  forms  of  the  compartments  to  be  vaulted,  were  at 


1 68 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


length,  as  we  have  also  seen,  wholly  conquered  in  the  apse  of 
St.  Denis.  In  addition  to  what  has  been  thus  far  shown  concern- 
ing such  vaults,  one  or  two  further  illustrations  of  the  flexibility 
of  the  Gothic  system  may  be  given  here.  In  the  Cathedral  of 
Paris  the  double  aisles  are  continued  around  the  apse,  and  the 
trapezoidal  vault  compartments  of  the  inner  and  outer  aisles 


Fig.  90.  —  St.  Remi,  Reims. 

thus  adjoin  each  other  concentrically  (Fig.  91).  This  gives  a 
great  length  to  the  side  A  of  the  outer  compartment  which,  on 
the  usual  method  of  vaulting  such  compartments,  would  have 
proved  awkward  to  manage  on  account  of  the  excessive  height 
to  which  a  single  arch  would  reach.  To  avoid  the  necessity  of 
such  an  arch,  the  architect  of  this  apse  adopted  a  novel  and 


GOTHIC   COiVSTROXT/OiV  IN  FRANCE 


169 


ingenious  method  whereby  all  of  the  arches  of  the  curved  sides 
of  the  vaulting  are  rendered  of  nearly  equal  span.  This  result 
is  obtained  by  dividing  the  longest  side  of  the  inner  compart- 
ment into  two  parts  by  the  introduction  of  a  pier  B,  and  the 
longest  side  A  of  the  outer  compartment  into  three  parts  by 
the  introduction  of  two  supports  at  the  points  A'.  No  inter- 
secting diagonals  are  employed  in  the  vault,  but  in  place  of 
them  ribs  are  sprung  from  the  piers  C  to  the  pier  B ;  and  from 
the  piers  BB'  to  the  piers  A',  thus  dividing  the  inner  compart- 
ment into  three,  and  the  outer  compartment  into  five,  triangular 


-   A 


Fig.  91.  —  Paris,  Vaults  of  Apsidal  Aisle. 

cells  of  nearly  equal  magnitude.  These  cells  are  then  vaulted 
over  in  the  following  manner :  starting  from  the  angle  A'  of  the 
cell  BA'B',  arched  courses  of  masonry  are  carried  across  from 
rib  to  rib  until  the  crowns  of  these  ribs  are  reached  in  the  line 
D,  then  starting  at  the  angles  BB'  similar  courses  are  sprung, 
in  a  direction  perpendicular  to  the  first,  from  the  rib  BB'  to  the 
diagonals  B'A',  A'B',  until  the  crowns  of  these  diagonals  are 
reached,  after  which  they  abut  against  the  line  D  of  the  first 
system,  and  thus  fill  in  the  triangle.  Every  part  of  each  cell  is 
sensibly  domical ;  and  the    irregularities  of    surface,    resulting 


I/O 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


from  the  conditions  of  the  problem,  have  an  agreeable  effect 
upon  the  eye  which  no  merely  geometrical  vaulting  can 
produce.^ 

The  difficulty  arising  from  the  great  length  of  the  outermost 
arches  in  double  apsidal  aisles  was  afterwards  met  in  another 
way  in  the  Cathedral  of  Le  Mans.  In  this  instance  the 
trapezoidal  form  is  avoided  in  the  outer  compartments  by 
the  adoption  of  a  plan  giving  a  series  of  radiating  square  vaults 
with  the  triangular  intervals  filled  with  vaults  of  triangular 
shape  — ■  after  the  manner  of  the  vaulting  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  be- 
fore noticed  (p.  34). 

Apsidal  chapels  are  almost  always  included  in  the  plan  of  the 
Gothic  apse.  These  are  usually  segmental  or  polygonal  in  plan, 
and  vary  considerably  in  development.  In  some  cases,  as  at 
Senlis,  St.  Leu  d'Esserent,  and  Soissons,  they  are  but  slightly 
pronounced,  while  in  others,  as  at  Noyon,  Reims,  Amiens,  and 
Beauvais,  they  become  of  much  importance.  The  chapels 
occupy  the  spaces  between  the  buttresses,  which,  in  the  earlier 
monuments,  as  Noyon  and  Soissons,  have  considerable  salience 
beyond  them,  while  the  chapels  of  the  later  cathedrals,  as  those 
of  Reims,  Amiens,  and  Beauvais,  are  so  large  that  the  buttresses 
are  largely  taken  in  as  dividing  walls.  After  the  beginning  of 
the  thirteenth  century  the  chapel  on  the  axis  of  the  building 
was  frequently  much  enlarged  and  dedicated  to  the  Virgin.  It 
was  often  planned  like  a  small  nave  without  aisles,  having  two 
or  more  rectangular  bays  and  an  apse,  as  at  Amiens.  But  in 
general  the  apsidal  chapels  are  but  diminutive  apses  of  one 
story  constructed  on  the  principles  of  the  larger  apse. 

The  combination  of  apse,  apsidal  aisle,  and  apsidal  chapels 
is  magnificent  in  the  highest  degree ;  and  is  altogether  peculiar 
to  Gothic.  The  interior  and  exterior  effects  of  the  apse  are 
among  the  most  remarkable  of  any  that  Gothic  art  presents. 
Of  the  earlier  interiors,  which  include  all  of  the  characteristic 
parts,  hardly  any  are  more  admirable  or  more  typical  than  that 
of  the  Church  of  St.  Leu  d'Esserent  (Fig.  92),  dating  from  the 
second  half  of  the  twelfth  century.  While  those  of  Chartres, 
Reims,  Amiens,  and  Beauvais,  whether  viewed  from  the  interior 
or  the  exterior,  are  among  the  grandest  achievements  of  human 
genius. 

iCf.  VioUet-le-Duc,  s.v.  Voute,  p.  512. 


GOTHIC   CO.VSTRC/CTIOIV  IN  FRANCE 


171 


The  plans  of  nearly  all  large  French  churches  include  tran- 
septs. Bourges,  among  cathedrals  of  the  first  magnitude,  is 
exceptional  in  having  none.  In  the  Romanesque  and  in  early- 
Gothic  churches  the  transept,  though  often  largely  developed. 


Fig.  92. — Apsidal  Aisle  of  St.  Leu  d'Esserent. 

is  generally  near  the  east  end.  But  in  the  developed  Gothic 
style  the  choir  is  greatly  extended  in  length,  and  the  transept 
is  thus  brought  forward  toward  the  west  end.  The  forms  and 
arrangements  of  transepts  are  very  various.  In  some  large 
buildings,  as  in  the  Cathedral  of  Paris,  the  transept  is  of  slight 
projection.     In  others,  as  in  Noyon  and  Laon,  it  is  more  de- 


172  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

veloped.  In  some  cases  it  is  without  aisles,  as  at  Noyon  and 
Paris.  In  others  it  has  an  aisle  on  both  sides,  as  at  Chartres, 
Amiens,  and  Reims.  Again,  as  at  Sens,  we  may  find  an  eastern 
aisle,  but  no  aisle  on  the  west  side.  In  some  cases,  as  at  Sens 
and  Laon,  chapels  open  out  of  the  eastern  aisle.  The  French 
transept  usually  terminates  in  a  square  end ;  but  in  some  early 
churches  the  extremities  have  the  apsidal  form.  At  Noyon 
both  transept  arms  have  round  ends,  while  at  Soissons  one  end 
is  round  and  the  other  is  square.  The  round  ends  of  Noyon 
are  without  aisles,  but  the  round  end  of  Soissons  has  an  aisle. 
The  structural  system  of  the  transepts  does  not  differ  from  that 
of  the  main  body  of  the  church,  but  consists  of  a  shorter  series 
of  bays  in  all  respects  similar  to  those  of  the  nave.  The  round 
end,  when  adopted,  is  formed  by  a  continuation  of  the  side 
bays,  with  their  horizontal  divisions,  and  internal  and  external 
members  around  the  curve,  as  in  the  main  apse.  But  the 
square  transept  end  is  furnished  with  an  appropriate  facade 
substantially  like  that  of  the  principal  front.  The  portals,  and 
other  external  features  of  the  transept,  are  not  seldom  so 
largely  developed,  and  so  richly  adorned,  as  to  almost  equal, 
as  at  Paris,  and  sometimes  even  to  surpass,  as  at  Chartres, 
those  of  the  main  facade.  The  transepts  of  Chartres  are 
provided  with  vast  and  unique  porches,  embracing  triple  por- 
tals, which  are  among  the  grandest  architectural  productions 
of  the  Middle  Ages. 

Of  the  majestic  aspect  of  the  great  west  end  of  a  Gothic 
cathedral  in  France  too  much  in  praise  can  hardly  be  said,  and 
yet  here  we  see  little  of  those  peculiar  structural  features  which 
are  so  marked  in  the  main  body  of  the  building.  The  great 
French  facades  are,  in  fact,  not  seldom  criticised  on  the  ground 
that  they  somewhat  disguise  the  true  character  of  the  edifice 
which  they  enclose ;  and  it  is,  perhaps,  true  that  an  entirely 
satisfactory  design  for  a  western  facade  was  hardly  ever  realized 
in  a  large  Gothic  church.  Yet  in  Paris,  Amiens,  Reims,  and 
other  monuments  we  have  west  fronts  of  not  merely  great  mag- 
nificence, but  also,  for  the  most  part,  of  appropriate  char- 
acter. The  defects  of  these  compositions  have  been  exag- 
gerated, and  have  largely  grown  out  of  a  mistaken  notion 
respecting  truthfulness  in  architectural  design.  It  may  be  said 
in  defence  of  them  that  it  is  not  an  imperative  principle  that  a 


V  GOTHIC   CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE  173 

fagade  should  wholly  express  the  form  of  the  building  which  it 
encloses.  The  fagade  rarely  can  do  this  except  in  buildings  of 
a  very  simple  character.  But  it  may  be  aflfirmed  as  a  principle 
that  unnecessary  or  wilful  concealment  of  structural  forms  is  an 
architectural  offence,  and  hence  those  horizontal  arcades  which 
connect  the  towers  in  some  of  the  great  Gothic  fronts,  masking 
the  gabled  roof  behind  them,  may  not  seem  wholly  justifiable.  It 
should  be  remembered,  however,  that  the  gabled  timber  cover- 
ing over  a  Gothic  nave  is  not  the  true  roof.  The  vault  beneath 
it  is  the  real  roof  of  the  monument ;  and  the  form  of  the  vault 
is  not  contradicted  by  the  horizontal  arcade.  For  a  cross-sec- 
tion of  the  vaulting,  taken  through  the  centre  of  any  bay,  gives 
an  approximately  horizontal  line  with  which  the  arcade  suffi- 
ciently agrees.  Moreover,  the  arcade  itself  has  great  value  in 
its  place  between  the  towers  —  which  are  the  governing  features 
in  any  general  view  of  the  facade.  To  the  eye  this  arcade  has 
the  function  of  binding  the  towers  well  together,  and  it  forms  a 
noble  crowning  feature  to  the  central  bay.  As  for  the  towers 
themselves,  it  would  be  hard  to  conceive  more  appropriate  or 
effective  terminations  for  the  aisles  of  a  great  church  edifice. 
And  yet,  from  the  front  view,  they  quite  conceal  the  whole  of 
that  wonderful  system  of  flying  buttresses  which  reveals  so 
much  of  the  distinctive  character  of  Gothic  art.  It  is,  however, 
generally  easy  to  get  a  view  which  commands  the  whole  struc- 
tural system ;  and  in  such  a  view  we  are  impressed  with  the 
majesty  and  appropriateness  of  the  mighty  towered  western 
front.  In  fact,  criticise  it  as  we  may,  it  is  hard  to  see  what  bet- 
ter could  be  done.  Without  the  towers  the  front  would  be  want- 
ing in  that  emphasis  and  dignity  which  befit  a  great  monument 
of  communal,  as  well  as  ecclesiastical,  importance. 

In  some  instances,  however,  as  at  Eu  (Seine-Inferieure),  the 
towers  are  omitted;  and  in  the  facades  of  smaller  churches  they 
are  generally  wanting,  as  at  Nesles,  Auvers,  Heronville,  and 
Champagne  (Fig.  93).  In  these  cases  a  tower  is  placed  over 
the  crossing,  as  at  Champagne,  or  beyond  the  aisle  in  front 
on  either  the  north  or  the  south  sides,  as  at  Chambly  (Oise)  and 
at  Champeaux  (Seine-et-Marne).  In  such  facades  the  whole 
structural  form  of  the  building  is  expressed  as  fully  as  it  can  be. 

The  practice  of  terminating  by  towers  the  western  ex- 
tremities of  the  aisles  of  large  churches  was  established  in  the 


174 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


Romanesque  period.  An  interesting  instance  of  an  early- 
Romanesque  facade  with  such  towers  is  afforded  in  the  Abbaye- 
aux-Hommes  at  Caen  (Fig.  94).  The  towers  are  here  marked 
by  vigorous  pilaster  buttresses  of  two  orders,  which  rise  without 
set-offs  to  the  level  of  the  horizontal  cornice,  above  which  they 
are  carried  up,  without  buttresses,  three  stories  higher.^  The 
facade  is  in  three  stories,  marked,  between  the  buttresses,  by 


Fu;.  93.  —  Champagne  (Seine  et  Oise). 

plain  string-courses.  In  the  ground  story  three  round-arched 
portals  of  moderate  dimensions,  each  of  three  orders,  open  into 
the  nave  and  aisles  respectively.  In  the  central  bay  three 
round-arched  windows  of  two  orders  occur  in  each  of  the  upper 
stories;  and  a  single  one  of  the  same  kind  opens  through  the 
wall  of  each  of  the  upper  stories  of  each  tower  bay.  A  low 
gable  over  the  central  bay,  with  a  diminutive  arched  opening  in 


1  These  towers  are  now  crowned  by  Gothic  spires  of  the  thirteenth  century.    The 
original  tower  roofs  must  have  been  in  the  form  of  low  square  pyramids. 


GOTHIC   CON'STRUCTION'  IX  FRANCE 


f75 


its  face,  completes  a  design  which,  though  well  composed,  is 
simple  even  to  baldness. 

The  development  of  the  fagade  was  less  rapid  than  that  of 
other  parts  of  the  building,  and  it  was  not  until  the  end  of  the 
twelfth  century  that  the  Gothic  impress  was  distinctly  set  upon  it. 


Fig.  94.  —  Abbaye-aiix-Hommes,  Caen. 


The  germs  of  the  Gothic  front  are,  however,  plainly  visible  in  the 
Church  of  St.  Denis,  where  the  larger  dimensions  of  the  deeply 
recessed  portals,  the  presence  of  the  pointed  arch  in  some  of  the 
openings,  the  large  wheel  window,  and  the  sculptured  enrich- 
ments constitute  a  wide  departure  from  Romanesque  design. 


176  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

A  further  approach  to  the  Gothic  type  is  found  in  the 
fa9ade  of  the  Cathedral  of  Senlis  (Fig.  95),  which  dates  from  the 
second  half  of  the  twelfth  century.  Although  in  its  main  ele- 
ments it  is  almost  the  same  as  the   front  of  the  Abbaye-aux- 


Fio.  95.  —  Senlis. 

Hommes,  its  features  are  richer,  and  it  has  a  new  expression 
which  bespeaks  the  vigorous  Gothic  genius.  Here  similar 
square-edged  tower  buttresses  of  two  orders  divide  the  front 
into  three  bays.  The  central  bay  is  divided  into  three  stories 
by   simply    moulded    string-courses,    the   upper   one   of   which 


GOTHIC  CONSTRUCTION'  IN  FRANCE 


177 


breaks  around  the  towers  and  their  buttresses.  On  the  ground 
story  the  whole  width  of  this  bay  is  occupied  by  a  splendid 
recessed  portal  of  five  orders  with  pointed  arches.  This  is,  per- 
haps, the  earliest  of  those  unparalleled  portals  which  became 
such  magnificent  features  of  the  developed  French  Gothic. 
Over  this  portal  is  a  great  pointed  arched  opening  of  four 
orders,  which  must,  it  would  seem,  originally  have  included 
some  simple  dividing  members,  but  whose  present  shafts  and 
tracery  cannot  belong  to  the  original  design.  In  the  third  story 
is  a  small  circular  opening  of  three  orders,  also  filled  with 
tracery  of  a  later  date,  and  on  either  side  of  it  a  pointed  niche 
of  two  orders  with  a  statue  in  each.     A  smaller  pointed  door- 


FlG.  96.  — Senlis. 

way  of  four  orders,  with  a  stilted  arch  and  a  pierced  tympanum 
of  curious  design,  opens  through  the  ground  story  of  each 
lateral  bay.  The  tympanums  are  in  two  planes  —  the  inner 
one  being  solid  ;  and  the  jointing  of  the  masonry  (Fig.  96) 
exhibits,  in  each,  a  curious  and  ingenious  method  of  sup- 
porting the  lintel.  The  opening  ne.xt  above  the  portal  in 
the  south  tower  bay  is  of  two  orders,  with  pointed  arches, 
while  the  corresponding  place  in  the  north  bay  is  occupied 
by  a  smaller  window  having  a  round  arch.  Above  each  of 
these  openings  the  wall  is  embellished  by  an  obtusely  pointed 
blind  arcade  of  two  arches  on  slender  shafts,  and  over  these 
again,  a  small  circular  opening  in  each  bay  on  the  level  of  the 
circle  of  the  central  bay.  One  of  these  is  now  filled  with  a 
clock  dial,  and  the  other  has  tracery  of  a  late  pattern.     The 

N 


178  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

buttresses  of  the  front  of  Senlis,  unlike  those  of  the  Abbaye- 
aux-Hommes,  are  carried  up  the  towers  to  the  cornices  of  the 
first  story  above  the  roof  of  the  nave.  In  each  face  of  this 
story  coupled  pointed  arched  openings  fill  the  entire  space 
between  the  buttresses  of  each  tower.  The  north  tower  ap- 
pears not  to  have  been  completed  above  this  level ;  but  the 
tower  on  the  south  side  is  surmounted  by  a  spire  of  early  thir- 
teenth-century design  which  is  of  unrivalled  beauty. 

It  will  be  observed,  as  we  proceed,  that,  unlike  the  main 
body  of  the  building,  the  Gothic  fagade  is  largely  an  ornamental 
modification  and  enrichment  of  the  Romanesque  facade,  rather 
than  a  radical  structural  transformation.  The  facade  with  its 
towers  is,  for  the  most  part,  merely  a  storied  edifice  in  which, 
as  before  remarked,  the  structural  principles  that  are  peculiar 
to  Gothic  are  not  extensively  called  into  requisition.  Never- 
theless, by  the  enlargement  of  the  openings,  the  slenderness 
of  the  supports  and  dividing  members,  the  general  emphasis 
of  the  skeleton,  and  the  upward  impulse  of  its  main  lines,  it 
ultimately  attained  a  distinctive  expression  in  harmony  with 
that  of  the  rest  of  the  fabric. 

A  great  advance  in  the  development  of  the  Gothic  facade 
was  made  in  the  Cathedral  of  Paris  (Plate  IV).  This  vast  and 
superb  design  is  not  only  the  most  elaborate  that  had  been 
produced  up  to  its  time,  but,  in  point  of  architectural  grandeur, 
it  has  hardly  ever  been  equalled.  The  general  scheme  is  still 
the  same  as  that  of  the  Abbaye-aux-Hommes,  but  the  com- 
ponent elements  are  treated  in  such  a  way  as  to  manifest  the 
Gothic  spirit  in  every  part.  The  larger  divisions  are  grandly 
proportioned  and  beautifully  subdivided,  and  the  Romanesque 
characteristics  have  completely  disappeared  from  the  apertures, 
the  arcades,  and  even  from  the  moulding  profiles.  Three 
majestic  portals  on  the  ground  story  ;  a  magnificent  arcade, 
sheltering  twenty-eight  colossal  statues,  and  reaching  across 
the  entire  front,  over  them  ;  a  vast  wheel,  with  open  tracery, 
in  the  central  upper  compartment,  with  twin  pointed  openings 
and  a  small  circle,  embraced  by  a  great  pointed  arch,  in  each 
lateral  bay ;  an  elegant,  though  gigantic,  open  arcade  carrying 
the  main  cornice,  together  with  the  towers  above,  each  pierced 
with  coupled  pointed  openings,  —  make  up  a  most  impressive 
architectural  composition.     This    noble    creation  of   the    early 


IV 


PARIS    CATHEIJHA 
Facade  beQun  in  1205, 


Plate    V 


AMIENS. 
rhirteenth  Century 


V  GOTHIC   CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE  179 

thirteenth  century  has  suffered  much  from  the  vandalism  of 
modern  times.  Many  of  its  details  have  been  destroyed  and 
replaced  by  new  ones ;  but  its  leading  features  are  still  essen- 
tially unchanged. 

The  still  richer  facade  of  Amiens  (Plate  V)  has  been  much 
injured  by  remodelling  in  its  upper  parts.  But  the  lower  por- 
tions retain  their  primitive  forms.  While  the  general  scheme 
of  this  design  is  substantially  like  that  of  Paris,  it  exhibits 
a  different  treatment  of  details,  and  some  novel  features  are 
introduced.  The  most  important  of  these  last  are  the  porches, 
which  are  obtained  by  increasing  the  salience  of  the  buttresses  on 
the  ground-story  level,  the  outermost  archivolts  of  the  portals  being 
brought  forward  so  as  to  be  flush  with  their  outer  faces,  and 
gabled  roofs  being  erected  over  them.^  Many  varieties  of  purely 
ornamental  gables,  often  of  exaggerated  development,  arose  in 
later  cathedral  fronts  ;  but  here  in  Amiens  they  are  simple, 
appropriate,  and  monumental.  Other  new  features  are  the 
pinnacles  which  crown  the  deep  offsets  of  the  buttresses,  and 
these  buttresses  are  now  further  enriched  with  superimposed 
arcadings,  panellings,  statues,  and  sculptured  reliefs.  Between 
the  great  portals  and  the  arcade  of  statues  an  elaborate  open 
gallery  is  interposed,  and  the  great  wheel  of  the  central  bay  is 
flanked  by  coupled  pointed  openings  in  the  tower  bays.  This 
wheel  has  lost  its  original  tracery,  and  the  existing  tracery,  of 
Flamboyant  design,  does  not  harmonize  with  the  nobler  forms 
of  the  earlier  composition.  The  top  stories  of  the  towers  have 
lost  most  of  their  primitive  features  by  Flamboyant  alterations, 
and  the  arcade  which  now  connects  them  is  wholly  Flamboyant. 
The  fagade  of  Amiens  is  thus  sadly  disfigured,  so  that  its  original 
aspect  as  a  whole  cannot  be  fully  understood.  Yet  enough  re- 
mains to  show  that  this  marvellous  west  front  must  have  marked 
the  culmination  of  Gothic  art  in  its  purest  condition. 

In  the  stupendous  west  end  of  Bourges  we  have  porches  of 
the  same  general  character  as  those  of  Amiens.     In  fact,  they 

^  These  gables,  thus  introduced  as  protecting  roofs  over  the  arches,  were  seen  to 
have  an  architectural  value,  and  were  soon  brought  into  extensive  use  for  ornamental 
effect  where  they  had  no  structural  meaning — as  in  the  interior  arcades  of  the  tri- 
forium  of  the  choir  of  this  same  cathedral.  This  purely  ornamental  use  of  the  gable 
surmounting  the  arch  does  not,  I  believe,  often  occur  before  about  the  middle  of 
the  thirteenth  century. 


i8o  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

are,  perhaps,  even  finer  in  point  of  monumental  simplicity  joined 
with  elegance  of  form.  The  elaborate  cuspings  of  the  archi- 
volts  and  crocketing  of  the  gables  of  the  porches  of  Amiens 
produce  a  slightly  florid  effect.  But  at  Bourges  these  orna- 
ments are  altogether  omitted  from  the  central  porch,  and  only 
crockets  of  very  moderate  development  are  used  in  the  lateral 
ones.  Bourges  has  a  five-aisled  interior,  and  the  internal  divi- 
sions are  marked  on  the  outside  by  buttresses  of  unusual 
prominence.  There  are  thus  five  porches  here,  instead  of  only 
three,  as  at  Amiens  —  where  there  are  only  three  aisles.  It 
may  be  remarked  here  that  the  Cathedral  of  Paris,  also,  has  five 
aisles ;  but  this  is  not  expressed  in  its  facade. 

It  is  hard  to  speak  critically  of  so  majestic  a  structure  as  the 
west  front  of  the  Cathedral  of  Reims.  The  period  of  its  con- 
struction was,  however,  one  when  the  vitality  and  spontaneity 
of  the  Gothic  movement  were  in  great  measure  spent;  and  the 
signs  of  waning  life  are  not  wanting  in  this  monument.  It  has 
merits,  however,  which  almost  entitle  it  to  rank  among  the  first 
of  Gothic  fagades.  In  the  magnitude  of  its  openings,  the  at- 
tenuation of  their  dividing  members,  and  the  general  emphasis  of 
its  upright  lines,  it  has  a  more  pronounced  Gothic  expression 
than  any  other  monument  of  the  thirteenth  century,  and  yet  its 
defects  are  conspicuous.  Among  the  most  marked  of  these  is 
the  projection  of  the  jambs  of  the  great  portals  beyond  the 
faces  of  the  buttresses,  so  that  the  adjoining  splays  meet  in 
narrow  edges.  The  buttress  is  thus  lost  to  view  in  the  ground 
story,  where  it  ought  to  be  a  prominent  feature.  An  approach 
to  the  same  treatment  occurs  at  Bourges,  where  the  outer  faces 
of  the  buttresses  are  somewhat  narrowed,  though  not  entirely 
covered,  by  the  splays.  A  still  further  departure  from  the 
principles  of  the  purest  Gothic  is  seen  in  the  treatment  of  the 
great  ground-story  gables.  These  gables  do  not  follow  the  lines 
of  the  roofs  of  the  portals  to  which  they  belong,  but  rise  far 
above  them  as  purely  ornamental  features,  and  thus  violate  the 
logic  of  the  Gothic  system  in  its  integrity.  The  pinnacles  over 
the  offsets  of  the  buttresses  are  of  greatly  magnified  dimensions, 
and  are  raised  on  shafted  canopies  sheltering  colossal  statues. 
These  are  beautiful  features  in  themselves,  but  the  florid  aspect 
of  the  whole  design  to  which  they  largely  contribute  is  some- 
what excessive.    The  great  western  window  wheel  is  set  beneath 


V  GOTHIC   CONSTRUCr/OiV  hV  FRANCE  i8i 

a  pointed  arch  which  is  one  with  the  westernmost  transverse 
rib  of  the  nave  vaulting.  The  effect  of  this  is  not  altogether 
happy.  In  earlier  monuments,  in  Paris  and  Amiens  for  example, 
the  westernmost  transverse  rib  is  made  semicircular  so  as  to 
form  the  upper  half  of  the  circumference  of  the  opening.  A 
better  treatment,  where  the  westernmost  transverse  rib  has 
the  pointed  form,  is  shown  at  Bourges.  In  this  case  the  cir- 
cular wheel  is  omitted  altogether,  and  a  vast  pointed  arched 
opening  with  mullions  takes  its  place.  The  wheel,  however,  is 
a  magnificent  feature,  and  much  grander  in  effect  than  the 
gigantic  pointed  opening.  Its  great  circle  contrasts  most 
effectively  with  the  lines  of  the  general  framework  of  the 
facade  ;  and  the  elaborate  geometric  patterns  of  its  tracery  are 
among  the  most  charming  features  of  Gothic  art.  Viewed  as  a 
whole  the  west  front  of  Reims  has  a  remarkably  soaring  aspect. 
This  is  secured  not  only  by  great  height  in  proportion  to  width, 
and  by  a  multiplication  of  slender  upright  members,  but  also  by 
a  general  breaking  up  of  the  horizontal  courses,  so  that  no  con- 
tinuous level  lines  extend  across  the  entire  front ;  and  the  effect 
is  heightened  by  an  acute  gable  over  the  top  arcade  of  the  cen- 
tral bay,  as  well  as  by  the  addition  of  immensely  tall  open 
canopies,  on  slender  supports,  in  place  of  solid  buttresses,  at 
the  angles  of  the  upper  stories  of  the  towers. 

The  west  fronts  of  Senlis,  Paris,  Amiens,  and  Reims  suffi- 
ciently illustrate  the  development  and  the  characteristics  of  the 
PVench  Gothic  western  fagade.  Its  typical  form,  as  exhibited 
in  the  Cathedral  of  Amiens,  is  a  marvel  of  architectural  gran- 
deur and  beauty.  With  the  given  conditions  it  is  hard  to  see 
how  a  more  successful  result  could  have  been  reached.  The 
arch,  the  shaft,  the  buttress,  and  the  string  are  employed  with 
the  finest  artistic  judgment.  The  main  masses  are  disposed  and 
proportioned  with  subtle  feeling,  and  the  myriads  of  ornamental 
details  are  distributed  with  a  sense  of  largeness  and  breadth 
of  total  effect,  no  less  than  of  delicacy  in  minute  elaboration. 
The  men  who  designed  and  executed  these  facades  were  great 
artists  ;  and  their  work  bespeaks  an  aesthetic  culture  comparable 
with  that  manifest  in  the  finest  art  of  Greece.  If  this  is  still 
largely  unrecognized,  it  is  due,  in  great  measure,  to  the  fact 
that  our  modern  ideas  have  been  formed  under  the  influence 
of    aesthetic    guides    who,    in   over-zealous    and    unenlightened 


i82  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap, 

regard  for  classic,  and  Neo-classic,  art,  have  failed  to  appre- 
ciate the  real  character  of  the  arts  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

I  have  said  that  in  the  western  fagade  there  was  little 
occasion  for  peculiar  structural  developments.  It  ought  not, 
however,  to  be  supposed  that  such  developments  were  alto- 
gether wanting  in  this  part  of  the  Gothic  edifice.  M.  Viollet- 
le-Duc  has  shown, ^  for  instance,  that  in  the  great  buttresses, 
like  those  of  the  Cathedral  of  Paris,  the  tendency  to  settlement 
is  greater  at  the  inner  part,  which  is  more  heavily  weighted, 
than  the  outer  face.  This  inequality  of  settlement  would 
be  apt  to  cause  more  or  less  rupture  in  the  mass  were  not 
means  taken  to  relieve  the  inner  side,  and  to  distribute  the 
weight  equally.  In  the  colossal  buttresses  of  Paris  a  series 
of  props  of  cut  stone  are  shown  to  be  embedded  in  the  rough 
rubble  masonry  of  which  the  inner  masses  are  mainly  made  up. 
These  conduct  the  weight  at  intervals  from  the  inner  portions 
to  the  outer.  To  secure  the  outer  faces  of  the  buttresses 
against  yielding  to  the  outward  thrusts  of  these  props,  bond 
courses  of  cut  stone  are  inserted  and  firmly  held  together  by 
cramps  of  iron.  The  buttress  thus  built  becomes  an  organic 
structure  partaking  of  those  principles  which  reign  throughout 
the  rest  of  the  building. 

Of  external  features  none  is  more  striking,  and,  after  the 
flying  buttress,  none  shows  more  of  the  Gothic  spirit,  than  the 
stone  spire  with  which,  in  the  original  design,  if  not  in  the  com- 
pleted work,  the  tower  was  crowned.  The  spire  is,  moreover, 
a  feature  which,  perhaps,  beyond  any  other  marks  the  communal 
spirit  and  influence.  It  formed  the  governing  feature  in  and 
general  view  of  the  mediaeval  town  ;  and  was  a  sign  of  municipal 
power  and  prosperity.  It  was  natural,  therefore,  that  the  spire 
should  call  forth  the  special  enthusiasm  and  effort  of  the  lay 
builders. 

Before  the  twelfth  century  nothing  like  a  true  spire  had 
been  built.  In  France  during  the  eleventh  century  the  form 
of  the  tower  roof,  when  of  stone,  was  that  of  a  low  square  pyra- 
mid, like  those  still  extant  on  the  towers  which  flank  the  apse 
of  the  Abbey  Church  of  Morienval  (Fig.  97),  and  date  from 

^  S.v.  Construction,  p.  158  f/  seq. 


GOTHIC   CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE 


183 


about  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century.  In  Normandy  more 
acutely  pointed  pyramids  occur,  dating  from  an  early  period ; 
but  they  are  still  on  a  square  base,  as  at  St.  Contest  (Calvados), 
where  a  small  round-arched  dormer,  surmounted  by  a  gable, 
breaks  each  side  near  the  base  (Fig.  98).  In  the  Ile-de- 
France,  however,  the  true  spire,  which  is  octagonal  in  form, 
surmounts  the  square  tower  early  in 
the  twelfth  century,  as  in  the  small 
churches  of  St.  Vaast  de  Longmont, 
Chamant(near  Senlis),  St.  Leu  d'Es- 
serent,  and  others.  Of  these  Chamant 
(Fig.  99),  if  it  be  in  reality  as  early 
as  it  appears,  is  especially  interesting 
because  it  exhibits  features  which 
were  afterwards  magnificently  ampli- 
fied in  the  unique  spire  of  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Senlis.  These  features  are: 
acutely  gabled  dormers  with  pierced 
tympanums,  one  on  each  of  the  four 
faces  of  the  octagon  that  are  even 
with  the  tower  walls,  and  small 
openings  above  in  each  of  the  eight 
faces.  Few,  if  any,  spires  of  earlier 
date  than  these  had  been  constructed ; 
and  from  such  simple  types  the 
progress  was  surprisingly  rapid. 
Innovations,  which  were  generally 
improvements,  quickly  followed  each 
other  until  the  typical  Gothic  spire 
was  produced.  There  were  difficul- 
ties, too,  of  no  small  magnitude  to 
be  overcome.  To  manage  the  tran- 
sition from  the  square  plan  of  the  tower  to  the  octagonal  plan 
of  the  spire,  so  as  to  secure  both  stability  and  beauty,  was  not 
an  easy  task  at  a  time  when  there  were  no  precedents  to  guide 
the  constructors.  Thus  these  early  spires,  when  regarded  as 
experiments  in  untried  forms  of  design  and  construction,  may 
well  call  forth  our  admiration  ;  though  when  compared  with 
subsequent  achievements,  we  recognize  the  points  in  which 
they  fail. 


Fig.  97. —  Morienval. 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


The  adjustment  in  Chamant  of  the  octagon  to  the  square 
is  but  partially  successful  as  an  architectural  design.  The 
transition  is  too  abrupt.  The  upper  story  of  the  tower  is  not 
well  prepared  to  carry  a  spire ;  there  is  a  lack  of  organic  con- 
nection between  the  two  parts. 

Great  improvements  were  made  in  the  tower  and  spire  of 
the  Abbey  Church  of  the  Trinity  at  Vendome  (Loir-et-Cher). 

The  angle  buttresses  are  here  carried 
up  to  the  cornice  of  the  belfry  story 
with  which  the  square  tower  ter- 
minates, and  between  this  and  the 
spire  a  tall  vertical  octagon  story  is 
interposed.  Open  circular  turrets 
with  pointed  conical  roofs  cover 
the  angles  of  the  square  belfry, 
and  a  pointed  opening  of  two 
shafted  orders  surmounted  with  a 
gable  adorns  each  cardinal  face  of 
the  vertical  octagon.  This  octagon 
is  crowned  with  a  bracketed  cornice 
from  which  the  spire  rises  without 
any  subordinate  structural  or  orna- 
mental features.  The  tall  polygonal 
drum  and  its  engaged  turrets  form 
an  elegant  and  aspiring  group,  but 
the  junction  of  the  spire  with  the 
octagon  is  not  as  well  managed  as 
it  might  be.  The  unbroken  level 
line  of  this  junction  is  not  in  harmony 
with  the  soaring  spirit  that  was  seeking  expression.  Still 
greater  improvements  were,  however,  very  soon  made,  and 
the  typical  Gothic  spire  was  brought  into  existence  at  one 
further  stride,  in  the  Cathedral  of  Chartres.  The  south  tower 
and  spire  of  this  monument  (Fig.  lOo)  were  constructed  between 
1 140  and  1 160.  In  this  case  the  polygonal  drum  has  a  square 
turret,  with  a  shafted  opening  in  front  and  a  steep  pyramidal 
roof,  set  over  each  of  the  tower  angles  against  each  oblique  face 
of  the  drum.  These  turrets,  rising  directly  over  the  buttresses 
of  the  substructure,  continue  their  vertical  lines  and  thus  hap- 
pily unite  the  drum  with  the  tower.     A  pointed  arched  opening 


Fig.  q8.  — St.  Contest. 


.^la:e  ',^1. 


SPIRE    or   SE-NL-IS. 
Middle  Ox"  :h:rteen:li  Centur 


GOTHIC   CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE 


185 


in  each  cardinal  face  of  the  drum  is  surmounted  by  a  high  and 

steep  gable,  which  rises  through  the  drum  cornice  and  abuts 

against  the  base  of  the  spire.     The  apexes  of  the  pyramids  of 

the  angle  turrets  likewise  rise  above  the  cornice  of  the  drum, 

and    thus   the    level    line,    which    is    so 

marked  in  Vendome,  is  broken  up,  and 

the  composition  as  a  whole  has  an  organic 

and  aspiring  expression.     As  in  the  spire 

of  Vendome,  coursed  three-quarter  rounds 

adorn  the  angles,  and  a  similar  moulding 

is  carried   up   the   middle  of    each    face. 

The  spire  of  Chartres  has  a  monumental 

nobility  and  purity  of  style  that  are  hardly 

equalled  in  any  other  Gothic  spire  of  the 

twelfth  century. 

The  small  Church  of  Vernouillet 
(Seine-et-Oise)  has  over  the  crossing  a 
spire  of  great  beauty,  dating  apparently 
from  the  latter  part  of  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury. In  this  composition  the  octagonal 
drum  is  omitted,^  but  the  development  of 
the  pinnacles  and  gabled  dormers,  and 
the  manner  of  their  grouping  in  relation 
to  the  main  body  of  the  spire,  indicate 
advanced  powers  of  design.  Elegant 
open  shafted  canopies  of  square  plan 
here  support  the  pinnacles  of  the  tower 
angles,  and  are  set  even  with  the  tower 
walls,  while  shafted  dormers,  with  steep 
gables,  rise  against  the  cardinal  faces  of 
the  spire.  The  lines  are  all  well  carried 
up  —  those  of  the  tower  buttresses  being 
continued  by  the  shafts  of  the  pinnacles ; 
while  the  inclined  lines  of  the  crowning  members  lead  the  eye 
in  the  direction  of  the  spire  itself,  which  rises  through  the  sub- 
ordinate group  with  admirable  effect. 

The  spire  of  the  Cathedral  of  Senlis  (Plate  VI),  erected  early 

^  Though  the  octagonal  drum  is  omitted  from  the  design  of  the  exterior  of  the 
spire  of  Vernouillet,  it  nevertheless  exists  inside,  as  shown  by  Viollet-le-Duc,  s.v. 
Clochcr,  p.  327. 


Fig.  99.  —  Chamant. 


1 86 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


in  the  thirteenth  century,  marks  the  culmination  of  pure  Gothic 
art  in  this    feature.      In  point  of    organic   design  it  possesses 

all  of  the  merits  of  the  spires  of 
Chartres  and  Vernouillet,  while  for 
grace  of  outline,  soaring  expression, 
and  beauty  of  details  it  is  unequalled 
by  any  other  spire  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
In  this  case  the  octagonal  drum  is 
much  taller  than  at  Chartres,  as  are 
the  proportions  of  all  other  parts  of 
the  structure.  The  pinnacles  over  the 
angle  buttresses  are  here,  as  at  Ver- 
nouillet, set  even  with  the  tower  walls, 
and  consist  of  three  slender  shafts 
which  reach  to  about  one-half  the 
height  of  the  drum,  and  carry  pointed 
arches  surmounted  by  acute  skeleton 
pyramids  richly  crocketed.  The  axes 
of  these  pyramids  are  not  vertical,  but 
are  inclined  inwards  against  the  oblique 
faces  of  the  octagon.  Their  outlines 
thus  lead  the  eye  up  to  the  inclined 
lines  of  the  spire,  and  their  apexes 
rise  above  the  drum  cornice  high 
enough  to  break  up  its  horizontal  line. 
A  tall,  pointed,  arched  opening  pierces 
each  cardinal  face  of  the  drum,  and  a 
dormer  of  slender  proportions,  with  an 
acute  pierced  gable  and  rich,  though 
not  over-elaborate,  design,  is  set  against 
each  face  of  the  spire,which  is  pierced 
on  each  side,  above  the  dormers,  with 
two  narrow  rectangular  openings  and 
a  circle  between  them.  Slender  engaged 
shafts  rise  against  the  angles  of  the 
drum,  and  crockets  adorn  the  angles 
of  the  spire. 

In  these  spires  the  oblique  walls  of  the  octagon  are  sus- 
tained by  squinches  in  the  reentrant  angles  of  the  tower ;  and 
these,  with  the  loads  they  carry,  help  to  consolidate  the  fabric, 


Fig.  ioo.  —  Chartres. 


V  GOTHIC   COXSTRU'CTION  LV  FRANCE  187 

while  the  thrusts  of  the  spire  are  further  reduced  to  a  minimum 
by  thinness  of  masonry,  and  by  the  weight  of  the  abutting 
dormers. 

We  may  now  briefly  consider  the  general  interior  and  ex- 
terior aspects  of  the  Gothic  edifice.  Standing  at  the  west  end 
of  the  nave  and  looking  eastward,  the  interior  of  a  great  cathe- 
dral presents  a  most  impressive  spectacle.  The  effect  is,  in- 
deed, almost  overwhelming.  The  vast  vista  with  its  stately 
piers  and  lofty  vaults,  the  rhythmical  order  of  the  larger  subdi- 
visions, the  multitudinous  array  of  subordinate  members  ranged 
in  sequent  ranks,  and  losing  themselves  in  the  mysterious  per- 
spective of  the  choir  —  the  view  ending  in  the  majestic  apse 
seen  dimly  through  the  misty,  incense-laden  air,  produce  upon 
the  receptive  mind  sensations  that  are  awakened  only  by  the 
noblest  works  of  the  creative  imagination. 

In  any  general  view  of  the  exterior  the  structural  system  is 
everywhere  plainly  expressed.  We  see  at  a  glance  that  the 
building  is  not  composed  of  walls  and  timber  roofs,  but  that  it 
consists  of  vaulting  sustained  by  piers  and  buttresses.  So 
marked  is  the  expression  of  this  peculiar  mode  of  construction 
that  M.  Renan  has  likened  the  Gothic  edifice  to  an  animal  with 
its  cJiarpcnte  osseuse  ajitoiir  de  lui}  In  the  frank  exhibition  of 
each  functional  member,  and  the  artistic  skill  with  which  all  are 
shaped  and  adjusted  with  regard  to  their  effect  in  the  mighty 
whole,  reside  largely  the  peculiar  impressiveness  of  the  Gothic 
cathedral. 

The  general  proportions  of  the  exterior  are  sometimes  thought 
to  be  unsatisfactory.  But  the  fact  is  overlooked  that  hardly  any 
of  these  mediaeval  churches  were  completed  according  to  the 
original  design,  and  that  not  one  of  them  has  come  down  to 
us  without  having  undergone  considerable,  and  more  or  less 
damaging,  alterations.  Those  which  were  most  nearly  com- 
pleted at  one  epoch,  and  have  suffered  least  from  alterations,  are 
remarkable  for  grandeur  and  for  justness  and  harmony  of  pro- 
portions. Among  these  two  may  here  be  taken  as  illustrations 
—  one  an  early  structure,  and  the  other  a  later  one.     The  first 


1  Le  Clerc  and  Renan,  "  Discours  sur  I'Etat  'ies  Beaux-Arts,"  in  the  Hist.  Litte- 
raire  de  la  France  au  Quatorzieme  Siecle,  Paris,  1865,  p.  230. 


1 88  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

is  the  Abbey  Church  of  St.  Leu  d'Esserent  (Plate  VII),  and  the 
second  the  Cathedral  of  Reims  (Plate  VIII).  Both  exhibit  parts 
belonging  to  different  periods  of  construction ;  but  these  parts 
are  all  of  admirable  character,  and  they  group  together  very 
harmoniously.  In  St.  Leu  the  apse,  the  apsidal  chapels,  and 
the  eastern  towers,  together  with  the  first  adjoining  bay  of  the 
nave,  date  from  about  1170;^  while  the  main  body  of  the  nave 
appears  to  have  been  constructed  a  few  years  later,  and  the 
western  tower,  with  its  spire,  is  a  remnant  of  an  earlier  edifice. 
With  exception  of  the  western  tower,  to  which  the  reconstructed 
nave  is  ill  adjusted,  the  total  composition  as  it  now  stands  is 
conspicuously  fine  in  outline  and  just  in  its  proportions.  It 
is,  in  fact,  one  of  the  best  and  completest  surviving  monu- 
ments of  the  Gothic  art  of  the  twelfth  century. 

In  the  general  exterior  view  Reims  presents  a  striking  con- 
sistency and  harmony  of  parts,  and  as  a  whole  it  is  equalled  by 
few  other  French  cathedrals,  notwithstanding  that  it  comprises 
parts  that  were  wrought  at  successive  periods  extending  from 
12 1 2  to  the  fourteenth  century.  The  earlier  and  later  portions 
are,  however,  so  inconsiderable  in  extent  as  to  have  little  effect 
in  the  general  side  view.  The  main  body  of  this  vast  structure 
was  built  during  the  thirteenth  century ;  the  greater  part  of 
what  is  visible  in  the  illustration  being  subsequent  in  date  to 
the  year  1240  —  the  period  when  the  work  was  resumed  after 
a  delay  that  followed  the  construction  of  the  lower  parts  of  the 
east  end,  where  the  monument  was  begun. 

A  noticeable  feature  of  this  exterior  is  the  elaborate  and  gigan- 
tic parapet  with  which  its  cornices  are  crowned.  This  feature 
appears  to  have  been  developed  early  in  the  thirteenth  century. 
In  the  Gothic  of  the  twelfth  century  it  hardly  ever  appears.  The 
naves  of  Noyon,^  Laon,  St.  Leu  d'Esserent,  and  other  kindred 
monuments  are  crowned  with  simple  cornices  only.  In  Paris, 
Soissons,  and  Chartres  simple  parapets  occur,  and  in  Amiens 
and  Beauvais  they  are  more  developed.  But  this  parapet  of 
Reims  surpasses  in  magnitude  and  richness  that  of  any  other 
Gothic  building.      It  is,  in  fact,  over-developed,  and  like  many 

1  The  work  is  so  closely  similar  in  character  to  that  of  the  eastern  portions  of 
Senlis  as  to  warrant  the  belief  that  it  is  nearly  contemporaneous;  while  the  style  of 
the  superb  capitals  of  the  interior  seems  to  show  that  they  must  have  been  wrought 
subsequently  to  those  of  the  choir  of  Paris,  which  date  from  1163. 

•  The  existing  parapet  of  Noyon  is  an  addition  of  modern  times. 


Si  fj 


V  GOTHIC   CONSTRUCTION  IN  FRANCE  189 

Other  features  of  this  cathedral,  manifests  a  spirit  of  lavish  orna- 
mental display  which  was  one  of  the  influences  that  led  to  the 
decline  of  Gothic  art.^ 

These  two  monuments,  St.  Leu  and  Reims,  afford  an  interest- 
ing comparison,  the  one  showing  the  unadorned  condition  of  the 
external  features  which  is  characteristic  of  the  time  when  struc- 
tural exigencies  were  first  being  successfully  met,  and  the  other 
showing  the  richness  of  the  full  Gothic  development  when  the 
edifice  stands  forth  clothed  in  a  vast  wealth  of  appropriate  en- 
richments. Each  condition  has  its  own  proper  charm ;  but  it 
may  be  questioned  whether  the  monumental  simplicity  of  the 
earlier  building  has  not  some  superior  merits :  Reims,  though 
magnificent,  is  somewhat  redundant.  The  Gothic  exterior,  in 
its  utmost  purity,  would  partake  more  of  the  character  of  St. 
Leu.  The  nave  of  Amiens,  in  its  original  integrity,  would 
illustrate  more  justly  this  condition. 

We  have  now  examined  enough  of  these  structural  forms 
and  adjustments  to  enable  us  to  understand  the  Gothic  system 
and  the  animating  principles  which  controlled  the  French  build- 
ers of  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries.  Gothic  art  was  a 
result  of  an  unparalleled  impulse  which  had  its  source  in  the 
social  improvements  of  the  eleventh  century,  as  well  as  in  the 
peculiar  French  genius.  These  improvements  gave  scope  to 
inventive  spirit,  and  supplied  material  resources.  Architectural 
activity  was  incessant.  The  number  of  churches  erected  in  the 
Ile-de-France  during  the  first  half  of  the  twelfth  century  is 
astonishing.  In  no  other  part  of  the  world  was  there  anything 
like  it.2  And  this  activity  continued,  and  gathered  force,  for  at 
least  three-quarters  of  a  century  after  1 1 50. 

1  In  connection  with  the  parapet  the  gargoyle  may  be  mentioned  as  a  feature 
that  makes  its  appearance  in  the  thirteenth  century.  Both  parapet  and  gargoyle  arose 
in  connection  with  the  canal  for  the  accumulation  and  discharge  of  rain-water.  For- 
merly, as  in  St.  Leu  d'Esserent,  the  tihng  of  the  roof  overhung  the  cornice  and  dis- 
charged water  all  along  its  length.  But  by  means  of  the  canal  with  its  gargoyles  the 
water  was  discharged  at  intervals  and  thrown  far  out  beyond  the  sides  of  the  build- 
ing. The  canal  became  also  a  convenient  passageway,  by  means  of  which  various 
parts  of  the  exterior  could  be  easily  reached.  The  passageway  called  for  the  protect- 
ing parapet.     Cf.  Viollet-le-Duc,  s.v.  Balustrade. 

2  A  glance  at  the  Carte  des  Monuments  Historiques  de  France,  indiqiiant  les 
Acoles  d'Art  du  Territoire  Fran(ais  pendant  la  premiere  Moitie  dii  XI I'  Steele,  pub- 
lished by  the  French  government,  shows  this  region  thickly  studded  with  churches; 
while  in  the  neighbouring  provinces  they  were  more  sparsely  scattered. 


igo  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap,  v 

The  buildings  which  we  have  considered,  though  among  the 
most  important,  are  by  no  means  the  only  ones  in  France  which 
exhibit  the  growth  and  character  of  Gothic  art.  There  are 
many  others  of  the  same  character,  and  few,  if  any,  of  a  dif- 
ferent kind.  The  Gothic  movement  was  general  throughout  the 
region  where  it  arose.  It  was  a  remarkably  spontaneous  and 
national  movement  —  all  of  the  elements  of  the  new  style  being 
creative  developments  out  of  older  principles  and  forms.  There 
was  no  mere  imitation,  there  was  nothing  of  the  kind  else- 
where to  imitate.  After  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century 
every  traditional  architectural  member  that  could  be  utilized  was 
subjected  to  a  process  of  organic  recreation,  and  adjusted  to 
its  place  in  the  Gothic  system. 

As  we  have  seen,  structural  and  artistic  principles  find  simul- 
taneous expressions  in  every  step  of  the  progress  of  this  art. 
Mechanical  invention  and  aesthetic  feeling  were  never  separated 
in  the  minds  of  the  French  builders.  They  were  true  artists, 
and  wrought  with  a  steady  regard  for  beauty.  I  would  again 
emphasize  this,  lest  from  our  lengthened  examination  of  its 
structural  growth  it  should  be,  in  any  degree,  inferred  that 
Gothic  architecture  was  such  a  growth  merely.  The  Gothic 
monument,  though  wonderful  as  a  structural  organism,  is  even 
more  wonderful  as  a  work  of  art. 

We  have  followed  the  development  of  French  Gothic  from 
its  inception  to  its  maturity.  We  have  found  its  distinctive 
character  first  taking  form  in  the  apsidal  vaults  of  Morienval 
advanced  in  St.  Germer  and  St.  Denis,  and  further  perfected  in 
Noyon  and  Senlis.  We  have  found  every  functional  member 
complete  in  form  and  adjustment  in  the  Cathedral  of  Paris ; 
though  much  that  is  unessential  to  the  new  system  still  clings  to 
it.  We  have  next  seen  the  lingering  remains  of  Romanesque  art 
gradually  diminished,  and  the  Gothic  spirit  more  independently 
expressed,  in  the  early  portions  of  Reims,  and  in  the  remodelled 
portions  of  Paris  ;  while,  finally,  in  the  nave  of  Amiens,  we  have 
beheld  the  transformation  wholly  accomplished,  and  the  Gothic 
style  standing  forth  in  its  perfected  majesty  and  splendour. 

In  France,  then,  Gothic  architecture  was  germinating  by 
the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century,  had  accomplished  its 
structural  transition  in  the  third  quarter  of  the  century,  and  had 
reached  its  fullest  perfection  by  1220. 


CHAPTER   VI 

POINTED   CONSTRUCTION   IN   ENGLAND 

Few  instances  of  organic  vaulted  architecture,  including  the 
employment  of  groin  ribs  and  the  structural  use  of  the  pointed 
arch,  occur  in  England  prior  to  the  rebuilding  of  Canterbury- 
Cathedral  by  a  French  architect  —  which  was  begun  in  the 
year  1175.  One  instance  of  pointed  vaulting  on  ribs  oc- 
curs, however,  in  the  aisles  of  Malmesbury  Abbey,  a  build- 
ing which  is  nearly  contemporaneous  with  the  Church  of  St. 
Denis  in  France.  From  this  it  has  been  maintained  ^  that 
a  transitional  movement  had  arisen  in  England  as  early  as  in 
France,  and  that  this  building  affords  evidence  of  a  native  pro- 
gressive spirit  in  architecture  equal  to  that  which  was  active  on 
the  Continent.  But  the  character  of  the  monument  as  compared 
with  contemporaneous  and  preceding  continental  works  does 
not  bear  out  this  view.  For  although  Malmesbury  has  some 
important  transitional  features,  in  organic  development  it  is  very 
far  behind  contemporaneous  continental  works,  and  we  now  know 
that  the  Gothic  movement  arose  in  France  long  before  this  time 
—  its  early  progress  there  being  traceable,  as  we  have  found,  in 
many  extant  monuments  which  antedate  the  Church  of  St.  Denis. 
It  will  be  seen  (Fig.  loi)  that  the  IVIalmesbury  vaults  have  a 
slightly  domical  form,  and  are  furnished  with  transverse  and 
groin  ribs,  but  no  longitudinal  ribs.  The  pier  arches  and  the 
transverse  arches  are  pointed,  while  the  groin  arches  are  semi- 
circular. The  profiling  is  primitive,  —  the  transverse  ribs  being 
square  in  section,  while  the  diagonals  are  three-quarter  rounds. 
It  is  evident  that  the  nave  was  originally  designed  for  vaulting, 
since  a  group  of  three  vaulting  shafts  is  incorporated  with  each 
pier.  These  shafts  seem  clearly  to  belong  to  the  original  con- 
struction, as  may  be  seen  (Fig.  102)  by  their  perfect  adjustment 
with  the  imposts  of  the  great  arcade,  from  which  they  rise,  and 

1  By  J.  H.  Parker  and  others. 
191 


192 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


by  their  being  banded  by  the  original  triforium  string.  But 
if  vaulting  to  correspond  with  these  shafts  was  ever  carried  out, 
it  was  afterwards  destroyed.  The  existing  vaults  of  the  nave 
are  of  late  English  construction,  and  of  a  character  that  does 
not  harmonize  with  the  earlier  parts  of  the  building.  The 
heavy  Norman  triforium  has  a  feature  that  is  uncommon  in 
England,  though  it  is  constant  in  the  French  Gothic ;  namely,  a 
wall  within  the  arcade  screening  off  the  space  over  the  aisle 


Fjg.  ioi. —  Vault  of  Aisle,  Malmesbury  Abbey. 

vaulting.     In  the  pointed  architecture  of  England  the  triforium 
is  usually  open,  exposing  to  view  the  timber  roof  of  the  aisle.^ 

With  such  approach  to  transitional  Gothic  character  as  it 
has,  Malmesbury  Abbey  is,  in  England,  an  isolated  work  of  its 
kind.  No  earlier  buildings  seem  to  have  led  up  to  it,  and  no 
further  developments  grew  out  of  it.  It  is  not,  therefore,  like 
St.  Denis  of  France,  a  link  in  a  continuous  chain  of  structural 
progress.  It  is  apparently  a  partial  imitation  by  the  Norman 
builders  of  the  new  mode  of  vaulting  that  was  developing  in 
France.  The  Norman  elements  remain  largely  unchanged  — 
even  in  the  interior  system  —  which  is  not  organically  fashioned 


^  See  p.  208. 


VI 


rOlIVTED    COYSTRUCTION  IiV  EXGLAXD 


193 


throughout.  Let  us  give  its  Anglo-Norman  builders  all  the 
credit  that  is  due  for  an  early  attempt  to  follow  in  the  path  that 
had  been  opened  across  the  channel ;  but  we  cannot  fail  to  see 
that  they  were  not  really  imbued  with  the  spirit,  and  governed 
by  the  principles,  that  were  transforming  the  architecture  of 
the  Ile-de-France. 


Fig.  102.- — System  of  .Malmesbury  Abbey. 


The  buildings  which  immediately  follow  Malmesbury  show, 
in  the  manner  of  their  construction,  less,  rather  than  more,  of 
transitional  character.  The  early  abbey  churches  erected  soon 
after  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century  hardly  depart  in  any 
essential  manner  from  the  older  Norman  modes  of  building. 
The  pointed  arch  occurs,  indeed,  in  most  of  them,  but  it  is  with- 
out structural  necessity  in  vaulting,  and  without   architectural 


194 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


consequence  in  the  general  system.  The  vaulting  that  occurs 
in  these  churches  is  often  of  the  most  primitive  kind.  The 
aisles  of  Fountains  Abbey,  for  instance  (Fig.  103),  which  date 
from  about  1 1 50,  are  covered  with  a  series  of  pointed  barrel 
vaults  carried  on  heavy  transverse  round  arches  —  as  in  the 
nave  of  St.  Philibert  of  Tournus  (described  on  p.  41).  These 
transverse  arches  (which  spring  from  a  lower  level  than  the 


Fig.  103.  —  Fountains  Abbey. 


great  archivolts)  rest  on  corbels  let  into  the  piers  and  the  aisle 
wall  respectively.  The  piers  themselves  are  bulky  round  col- 
umns of  masonry,  each  having  two  engaged  shafts  on  the  aisle 
side.  These  shafts  have  no  connection  with  the  vaulting,  but 
merely  support  the  corners  of  the  great  abaci  —  which  are  square 
on  the  aisle  side,  while  they  are  polygonal  on  the  side  of  the 
nave  in  conformity  with  the  shape  of  the  impost  section.  Fig- 
ure 104,  a  plan  of  the  abacus  laid  over  a  section  of  the  pier,  will 
explain  the  arrangement.     The  nave  of  Fountains  was  neither 


VI  POINTED    CONSTRUCTION  IN  ENGLAND  195 

vaulted  nor  intended  for  vaulting.  Its  massive  walls,  carried 
on  pointed  pier  arches,  are  unbroken  by  structural  members, 
and  there  is  no  approach  to  Gothic  character  in  any  part. 

The  aisles  of  Kirkstall  Abbey,  which  belong  to  about  the 
same  epoch  as  Fountains,  have  groined  vaults  on  pointed  arches 
with  transverse  and  diagonal  ribs.  The  piers  are  composed  of 
small  round  members  grouped  about  a  circular  core,  and  are 
crowned  each  with  an  octagonal  capital.  These  small  members 
have  no  strict  relationship  either  to  the  aisle  vaulting,  or  to  the 
great  arch  orders.  As  in  Fountains,  there  are  no  responds 
against  the  aisle  wall  —  the  vaulting  here  being  supported  on 
corbels.  No  nave  vaults  are  provided 
for,  and  the  design  above  the  pier 
arches  is  substantially  the  same  as  that 
of  Fountains.  It  will  be  seen  (Fig. 
105)  that  the  organic  pier  of  Roman- 
esque and  Gothic  art  does  not  exist 
in  Kirkstall  any  more  than  in  Foun- 
tains. In  both  of  these  buildings  it  is 
merely  a  ground-story  support,  and 
has  no  organic  composition  what- 
ever. 

It  may  be  remarked  in  passing  that  the  masonry  of  vaulting 
in  England,  not  only  at  this  time,  but  also  during  the  whole 
period  of  pointed  design,  is  usually  different  from  that  of  France ; 
and  is  often,  as  here  at  Kirkstall,  composed  of  broken  flatfish 
stones,  of  irregular  sizes,  wedged  together  as  in  primitive  Nor- 
man vaulting  —  the  surfaces  of  the  vaults  being  finished  with  a 
coating  of  plaster.  Light  vault  shells,  of  well-faced  and  finely 
jointed  stones  like  those  of  the  French  Gothic,  though  often 
found  in  the  larger  English  cathedrals  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
are  rare  before  that  time. 

Many  other  instances  of  the  use  of  the  pointed  arch,  with 
and  without  vaulting,  may  be  found  in  the  Anglo-Norman  archi- 
tecture of  about  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century ;  but  they 
are  generally  devoid  of  constructive  significance.  Thus  far  in 
England,  though  the  cathedrals  of  Senlis  and  Noyon  were  now 
in  process  of  building  across  the  channel,  nothing  of  a  more 
advanced  character  occurs.  But,  on  the  contrary,  such  impor- 
tant works  as  the  naves  of  Peterborough  and  Ely,  and  many 


196 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


Other  large  churches,  were  still  constructed  in  the  unmodified 
Norman  style. 

No  important  structural  modification  of  an  entire  system 
appears  to  have  been  made  in  England  till  William  of  Sens 
began  that  rebuilding  of  the  choir  of  Canterbury  to  which  I 
have  already  referred.     And  even  this  building,  though  a  very 

beautiful  one,  is  not  so  fully  Gothic 
as  the  choir  of  the  Cathedral  of  Paris, 
which  had  been  begun  more  than  a 
decade  earlier.  But  the  choir  of 
Canterbury  (Fig.  106)  was  the  real 
beginning  of  what  Gothic  there  is  in 
the  pointed  architecture  of  England. 
From  it,  as  the  main  source,  is  derived, 
in  so  far  as  structural  elements  are 
concerned,  what  is  known  as  the  early 
English  style.  This  choir  has  five 
bays,  and  is  vaulted  with  one  quadri- 
partite and  two  sexpartite  compart- 
ments. These  vaults  are  constructed 
on  a  full  system  of  ribs,  of  which 
those  of  the  transverse  arches  only 
are  pointed.  The  longitudinal  rib  is 
much  stilted,  the  surfaces  are  domical, 
and  the  resulting  forms  give  the  work 
a  substantially  transitional  Gothic 
character.  The  larger  ribs  are  carried 
on  slender  monolithic  shafts,  which 
rest  on  the  capitals  of  the  ground- 
story  piers,  which  are,  alternately, 
round  and  octagonal  columns.  The 
longitudinal  ribs  rest  on  small  shafts 
rising  from  the  clerestory  ledge.  Thus 
there  are  only  three  shafts  in  the 
main  pier  groups,  and  only  one  in  the  intermediate  pier.  This 
arrangement,  which  rarely  occurs  in  the  Gothic  of  France, 
is  found  (as  we  have  seen,  p.  1 19)  in  the  Cathedral  of  Sens 
—  the  architect's  native  town.  We  shall  presently  see  that  the 
single  vaulting  shaft,  here  used  logically  to  support  the  single 
intermediate  transverse  rib,  became   frequent   in   the    pointed 


Fig.  10^;.  —  Kirkstall. 


VI 


POINTED   COiXSTRUCTION  IN  ENGLAND 


197 


architecture  of  England,  but  that  it  is  often  made  to  carry- 
all the  ribs  in  quadripartite  vaulting.  The  great  pier  arches 
are  pointed  and  of  two  orders  profiled  like  contemporaneous 


"\C\ 

m 

'  -r 

l- 1 

T 

[  1? 

1        1 

■       - 

'T 

1  '  ! 

1  ii  \' 

:5  : 

i 

!  r  It 

Fig.  106.  —  Choir  of  Canterbury. 

French  archivolts,  the  triforium  has  both  round  and  pointed 
arches  of  two  orders  (also  with  French  profiles)  on  monolithic 
shafts,  and  the  clerestory  has  a  passageway  in  the  thickness  of 


198  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

the  wall  which  gives  two  planes  of  masonry — the  inner  one  of 
which  is  pierced  with  an  opening  which  occupies  almost  the 
entire  width  of  the  bay,  and  is  spanned  by  the  longitudinal 
vault  rib ;  while  the  outer  one  has  a  smaller  opening  with  a 
pointed  arch.  The  thrusts  of  the  vaulting  are  met  by  an  arch 
against  each  pier  across  the  triforium,  and  by  a  flying  buttress 
over  the  aisle  roof.^ 

Though  the  system  of  this  choir  is  somewhat  less  advanced 
than  those  of  the  contemporaneous  Gothic  works  in  France,  it 
is  nevertheless  a  distinctly  transitional  structure,  and  one  of 
great  beauty.  It  is,  however,  wholly  an  importation  from  the 
Continent,  and  in  no  sense  a  native  product.^  Its  novelty  and 
beauty  made  a  deep  impression,  and  very  naturally  excited  em- 
ulation. The  lesson  which  it  taught  soon  bore  fruit  in  some 
of  the  important  churches  that  arose  in  England  during  the 
last  decades  of  the  twelfth  century.  Among  these  were  the 
more  easterly  portions  of  the  same  cathedral,  the  reconstructed 
portions  of  Chichester,  and  the  choir  and  eastern  transept  of 
Lincoln. 

After  the  completion  by  William  of  Sens  of  the  choir  and 
some  portion  of  the  more  eastern  parts  of  Canterbury,  the 
master,  having  received  injuries  in  a  fall  from  the  scaffolding, 
relinquished  the  work  and  returned  to  France.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  another  William,  said  to  have  been  an  Englishman. 
It  is  difficult  to  distinguish  with  precision  the  beginning  of  the 
work  of  the  second  William.^  There  is,  however,  not  much  of  im- 
portance in  the  larger  features  of  any  part  of  the  building  that 
can  be  called  his  own  design.  He  apparently  did  little  more 
than  to  carry  out  the  original  scheme  of  William  of  Sens;  for 
the  work  is  still  mainly  French  in  character.  The  coupled 
columns  of  the  ground  story  of  the  Trinity  Chapel,  or  so-called 
Corona,  at  the  eastern  end  of  the  church,  are  like  those  of  the 
Cathedral  of  Sens,  and  the  vaulting  and  vaulting  system  are 
substantially  the  same  as  before.  The  apse  is  thoroughly 
French  in  design,  and  its  vaulting,  in  five  cells,  is  perfectly 
Gothic  in  form. 

^  Cf.  Professor  R.  Willis,  Architectural  Hist,  of  Canterbury  Cathedral,  London, 
1848,  p.  75. 

2  See  the  account  of  the  rebuilding  of  this  choir  given  in  Willis's  excellent  work. 

3  Cf.  Willis,  Op.  cit.,  p.  91. 


VI 


POINTED   CONSTRUCTION  IN  ENGLAND 


199 


1^' 


li 


The  Cathedral  of  Chichester,  like  that  of  Canterbury,  was 
originally  a  Norman  structure  of  the  end  of  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury. In  the  year  11 86  it  was  extensively  damaged  by  fire 
and  immediately  thereafter  repairs  were  begun  which  involved 
the  entire  rebuilding  of  the  two  easternmost  bays.  At  the 
same  time  the  whole  nave 
was  vaulted  with  oblong 
quadripartite  vaults  on  ribs 
and  pointed  arches.  All  of 
the  ribs  are  gathered  on  the 
single  round  abacus  which 
covers  a  group  of  three  capi- 
tals that  crown  the  slender 
vaulting  shafts.  In  the  piers 
which  divide  the  newly  con- 
structed eastern  bays  we 
already  meet  with  some 
peculiarities  of  adjustment 
which  frequently  occur,  as 
we  shall  see,  in  the  subse- 
quent pointed  architecture  of 
England,  and  which  differ 
materially  from  those  of  the 
true  Gothic.  In  these  piers  the  vaulting  shafts  rest  on  corbels 
placed  just  above  the  great  compound  capitals  of  the  ground- 
story  arcades,  and  thus  have  no  connection  with  the  lower  piers. 
The  lower  pier  (Fig.  107)  is  composed  of  a  central  round  column 
of  coursed  masonry,  with  four  widely  detached  monolithic 
shafts  which  are  adjusted  to  the  arch  orders  of  the  ground 
story  only.^ 

The  great  distance  from  the  central  column  at  which  the 
lesser  shafts  are  here  placed  gives  the  pier  a  character  in 
marked  contrast  with  that  of  the  Gothic  pier  in  which  the 
grouping  of  members  is  compact  and  organic,  as  in  the  pier 


Fig.  107.  —  Chichester. 


^^ 


^  Sir  Gilbert  Scott,  Rise  and  Development  of  Medi<Tval  Architecture,  vol.  ii. 
p.  142,  speaking  of  the  multiplication  of  arch  orders,  says:  "This  gives  us  our 
clustered  columns,  which  are,  in  fact,  the  mere  decoration  of  the  receding  orders 
of  the  piers."  It  is  true  that  clustered  columns  in  England  are  usually  nothing 
more  than  this;  but  in  Gothic  the  grouping  of  members  in  the  pier  arises  primarily 
from  the  exigencies  of  vaulting. 


200  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

of  Amiens  (Plate  II).  For  the  work  that  it  has  to  do  this  pier  is 
well  and  beautifully  designed.  Its  lightness  and  elegance  of  form 
are  noteworthy,  and  though  the  load  that  it  carries  is  very  bulky, 
a  solid  pier  of  this  magnitude  would  not  be  any  more  secure. 
But  in  a  strictly  Gothic  structure  the  load  would  be,  in  proportion, 
less  bulky,  and  the  pier  would  be  correspondingly  compact.  The 
compound  capital  which  crowns  this  pier  is,  in  main  idea,  the 
same  as  that  of  the  western  pier  of  the  nave  of  the  Cathedral  of 
Paris,  described  on  p.  126,  with  the  important  difference  arising 
from  the  detachment  of  the  secondary  shafts.  An  instance  of 
a  compound  pier  with  parts  thus  widely  separated  from  the 
central  column,  and  none  of  them  directly  employed  in  the 
support  of  the  high  vaulting,  never  would  occur  in  the  Gothic 
of  France. 

The  great  arcade  is  the  original  round-arched  Norman  one 
more  or  less  remodelled.  In  the  two  eastern  bays  the  archi- 
volts  have  been  reconstructed  in  three  orders.  The  triforium 
here  consists  of  a  round  arch  in  each  bay,  encompassing  a  sub- 
order of  two  pointed  arches  on  clustered  shafts,  and  the  clere- 
story, like  that  of  Canterbury,  has  a  passageway  in  the  thickness 
of  the  wall  with  a  single  pointed  opening  in  the  outer  plane  of 
masonry,  while  the  inner  one  has  a  larger  pointed  arch  flanked 
by  two  smaller  ones  carried  on  shafts  —  as  in  the  Trinity  Chapel 
of  Canterbury.  Externally  there  is  a  shallow  buttress  against 
the  clerestory  wall,  which  is  reenforced  by  a  flying  buttress  of 
almost  purely  French  type,  perhaps  the  earliest  instance  of  a 
well-developed  flying  buttress  in  England. 

The  characteristics  of  this  building  are  thus  mixed.  It  is 
not,  like  Canterbury,  a  French  design,  but  is  apparently  the 
work  of  Anglo-Norman  architects  who  adopted  certain  features 
of  the  growing  French  style,  modifying  them  according  to  their 
own  tastes,  but  failing  fully  to  appreciate  their  functional  mean- 
ing. Yet  notwithstanding  its  want  of  structurally  consistent 
Gothic  character,  there  is  a  great  deal  of  beauty  in  this  inter- 
esting monument. 

Almost  immediately  after  Chichester  (about  1 190)  were  begun 
the  deservedly  famous  choir  and  east  transept  of  Lincoln  Cathe- 
dral.    In  this  beautiful  building  a  curious  mingling  of  French  ^ 

1  Some  English  writers  have  affirmed  that  the  choir  of  Lincoln  is  native  English 
work  showing  no  trace  of  foreign  influence.     "  St.  Hugh's  choir  of  Lincoln  Cathedral 


VI  POINTED    CONSTRUCTION  IN  ENGLAND  201 

and  Anglo-Norman  characteristics  is  manifest.  It  is  plainly 
an  Anglo-Norman  ^  modification  of  that  portion  of  Canterbury 
which  was  designed  by  William  of  Sens,  with  some  French 
details  worked  in.  A  comparison  of  the  two  monuments  seems 
clearly  to  show  this,  and  all  of  the  artistic  circumstances  and 
conditions  of  the  country  at  this  time  were  such  as  to  make  it 
natural  that  it  should  be  so.  Bishop  Hugh,  under  whose  epis- 
copate the  work  was  executed,  was  a  Frenchman  by  birth  and 
early  training ;  and  his  architect,  Geoffrey  de  Noyers,  though 
possibly,  as  English  writers  affirm,  born  on  English  soil,  must 
certainly,  from  the  name,  have  been  of  French,  or  Norman,  ex- 
traction. However  this  may  be,  the  plan  of  the  building, 
especially  that  of  the  original  east  end,  is  distinctly  conti- 
nental. In  general,  the  French  influence  governs  the  larger 
structural  system,  while  the  Anglo-Norman  taste  is  mainly 
apparent  in  the  ornamental  details.  Structurally  there  is  no 
other  building  in  England  which  has  so  much  Gothic  character 
except  Westminster  Abbey,  in  which  the  French  influence  was 
equally  direct  and  strong. 

The  original  eastern  termination  of  this  choir  was  destroyed 
in  the  thirteenth  century  to  make  room  for  the  existing  Presby- 
tery. It  was  apsidal  in  form,  with  an  apsidal  aisle  and  three 
apsidal  chapels.^  Each  arm  of  the  transept  had  two  chapels 
on  its  eastern  side,  three  of  which  remain  unaltered,  and  the 
fourth,  the  north  chapel  of  the  north  arm,  has  been  recently 
restored  to  its  original  form  after  having  been  altered  to  an 
oblong  rectangular  shape  (Fig.    108).     Westward  of  this  tran- 

is  the  earliest  building  of  the  Gothic  style  free  from  any  admixture  of  the  Romanesque 
that  has  hitherto  been  found  in  Europe  or  in  the  world,"  says  Mr.  Parker,  IntJ-oJuction 
to  the  Study  of  Gothic  Architecture,  p.  102.  Such  a  view  is  not  worthy  of  serious  con- 
sideration in  view  of  the  known  facts  concerning  the  state  of  England,  and  of  native 
English  art,  in  the  twelfth  century. 

J  1  say  Anglo-Norman,  rather  than  English.  For  whatever  part  native  English- 
men may,  at  this  time,  have  taken  in  architectural  works,  there  can  be  little  doubt 
that  all  such  works,  when  not,  like  the  choir  of  Canterbury,  wholly  conducted  by 
Frenchmen,  were  mainly  directed  by  men  of  Norman  descent  imbued  with  the 
spirit  of  Norman  art.  The  architecture  itself  bears  witness  of  this.  Native  English 
workmen  were  douhtless  employed  among  others;  but  they  could  hardly,  at  this  time, 
have  taken  a  leading  part  in  artistic  production. 

"^  The  plan  of  this  apse  was  recovered  during  the  last  century  when  the  pavement 
of  the  Presbytery  was  taken  up  for  repairs,  h.  partial  excavation  made  in  December, 
1886,  in  the  south  aisle  of  the  Presbytery  again  laid  bare  a  portion  of  it. 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


sept  the  choir  is  prolonged  to  the  extent  of  four  bays,  and 
is  terminated  by  a  second  transept,  a  construction  which,  with 
the  exception  of  a  portion  of  the  eastern  side,  is  a  work  of  the 
first  quarter  of  the  thirteenth  century.  The  main  characteristics 
of  this  plan  are  French,  and  conform  very  closely  with  those 
of  the  original  apse  of  the  Church  of  St.  Martin  of  Tours,  which 
was  laid  out  in  the  eleventh  century. ^  That  the  plan  of  the  east 
end  of  Lincoln  was  not  of  native  English  origin  seems  to  be 
further  shown  by  the  peculiarity  of  the  oblique  sides  which 
connect  the   apse  with  the  transept.      The   same   peculiarity 


Fig.  io8.  —  Plan  of  Apse,  Lincoln. 

occurs  in  the  French  east  end  of  Canterbury  in  the  portion 
which  is  embraced  by  the  towers  of  St.  Anselm  and  St. 
Andrew ;  and  it  looks  as  if  this  feature  in  Lincoln  had  been 
derived  from  this  source. 

Lincoln  Cathedral  is  vaulted  throughout.  This  is  often  not 
the  case  in  important  mediaeval  churches  in  England,  and  the 
fact  is  itself  an  evidence  that  no  original  Gothic  movement  had 
place  in  this  country  ;  for  it  is  in  vaulting,  as  we  have  seen, 
that  the  Gothic  developments  primarily  arise.  The  vaulting 
of  Bishop  Hugh's  choir  has  peculiarities  which  are  difficult  to 
describe  in  words,  but  the  diagram  (Fig.  109)  shows  the  plan  of 
one  compartment,  and  the  perspective  elevation  (Fig.  1 10)  of  the 

1  This  plan  was  discovered  in  the  course  of  excavations  made  in  the  year  i860, 
and  an  illustration  of  it  is  given  in  the  Bulletin  Monumental,  vol.  40,  p.  147. 


VI 


POnVTED   CONSTRUCTION-  IN  ENGLAND 


203 


clerestory  shows  the  general  form  of  the  vaulting  conoid.  It 
will  be  noticed  in  the  plan  that  the  axes  of  the  lateral  cells  are 
set  obliquely,  so  that  these  cells  do  not  meet  each  other  in  a 
point  at  the  crown  of  the  vault ;  but  that  they  intersect  the 
longitudinal  ridge  at  different  points,  separated  from  each  other 
by  a  distance  equal  to  about  one-third  of  the  width  of  the  com- 
partment. This  .produces  two  smaller  cells  which  together  form 
an  elongated  diamond-shaped  compartment  set  diagonally,  and 
four  other  narrow  triangular  divisions.  Such  a  form  of  vault  is 
without  meaning  from  a  structural  point  of  view,  and  is  equally 
without  value  on  any  aesthetic  principle.  It  seems  to  show  plainly 
that  the  builders  of  Lincoln  were  not,  as  has  been  supposed,  devel- 


FlG.  109. 


oping  an  original  structural  system.  For  builders  working  in  a 
spirit  of  structural  invention  would  hardly  go  so  far  out  of  the 
path  of  constructive  necessity  in  search  of  mere  singularity  of 
design.  Gothic  vaulting  had,  as  we  now  know,  been  substan- 
tially perfected  in  France  long  before  the  choir  of  Lincoln  was 
begun,  and  the  men  who  contrived  this  work  were  certainly  ac- 
quainted with  French  models.  In  principle  these  vaults  do  not 
differ  materially  from  plain  quadripartite  vaults  with  a  Gothic 
rib  system.  In  addition  to  the  ribs  here  which  have  real  func- 
tional use,  others  are  inserted  which  are  structurally  superfluous. 
The  first  of  these  is  a  longitudinal  ridge  rib,  —  apparently  the 
first  instance  of  the  introduction  of  this  useless  member,  which, 
however,  subsequently  became  a  characteristic  feature  of  vault- 
ing in  England,  —  while  the  second  is  the  second  rib  in  the  pair 
which  are  substituted  for  the  usual  single  diagonal.  The  longi- 
tudinal  rib   is   imperfectly  developed,  and  consists  of  a  mere 


204 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


moulding  against  the  clerestory  wall.  This  longitudinal  rib 
springs  from  the  same  level  as  the  transverse  and  diagonal  ribs, 
and  hence  the  vaulting  conoid  does  not  narrow  inward  in  the 
manner  that  gives  an  effective  concentration  of  the  vault  thrusts 
against  the  pier,  as  in  true  Gothic.     On  the  contrary,  the  vault 

here  widens  out  against  the 
clerestory  wall  in  a  way  that 
seems  to  have  been  purposely 
sought,  since  the  longitudinal 
arch  has  a  slightly  cusped 
shape,  which  increases  the 
width  of  the  conoid.^ 

The  upright  supports  of 
this  vaulting  consist  of  a  single 
vaulting  shaft  against  each  pier, 
■  upon  whose  capital  all  the  vault 
ribs  are  gathered.  This  vaulting 
shaft  started  originally  from  the 
pavement,  and  was  banded  at 
half  the  height  of  the  ground- 
story  pier,  at  the  impost  of  the 
great  arcade,  and  also  at  the 
triforium  ledge.^  The  lower 
piers  vary  in  their  details,  but 
are  substantially  alike  in  gen- 
eral composition.  They  each 
consist  (section.  Fig.  in)  of 
a  central    octagonal    column,   of    coursed    masonry,    with    four 

1  It  ought  to  be  said  that  the  vaulting  of  the  east  transept  is  purer,  and  more 
Gothic,  than  that  of  the  choir.  The  useless  ridge  rib  does  not  occur  here,  nor  any 
other  superfluous  ribs.  This  suggests  the  possibility  that  the  existing  vaults  of  the 
choir  may  possibly  be  of  a  later  epoch  than  the  rest  of  the  system.  It  can  hardly, 
however,  be  much  later,  since  the  character  of  the  work,  including  the  profiling, 
differs  little  from  that  of  the  parts  which  certainly  belong  to  the  original  construction. 
Mr.  Parker,  Introduction  to  Gothic  Arr/iitfcture,  p.  102,  states  that  the  choir  of  Lincoln 
had  originally  "wooden  roofs  and  fiat  ceilings."  This  seems  very  unlikely;  it  is  a 
conjecture  unsupported  by  evidence,  and  it  is  contradicted  by  the  character  of  the 
entire  system. 

^  At  present  these  vaulting  shafts  do  not  rise  from  the  pavement,  but  are  carried 
on  ill-designed  corbels  inserted  in  the  wall  above  the  imposts  of  the  great  arcade. 
This  damaging  alteration  was  made  in  the  fourteenth  century  in  order  to  gain  space 
for  the  existing  stalls. 


Fig.  no.  —  Choir  of  Lincoln. 


VI 


rOLVTED    CONSTRUCTION  IN  ENGLAND 


of  its  sides  channelled.  Against  each  of  these  channelled 
sides  is  set  a  slender  monolithic  shaft.  One  of  these  rises 
to  carry  the  high  vaulting,  and  the  others  carry  respectively 
the  aisle  vaulting  and  the  sub-orders  of  the  great  archi- 
volts.  Unlike  the  pier  of  Chichester,  this  pier  of  the  choir 
of  Lincoln  has  a  functional  relationship  with  the  vaulting 
similar  to  that  of  the  westernmost  pier  of  the  Cathedral  of 
Paris,  which  it  resembles  in  its  structural  composition,  though 
in  proportions  and  ornamental  character  it  is  very  different. 
The  whole  system  is  suffi- 
ciently shown  in  the  section 
(Fig.  112).  The  pier  as  a 
whole  is  composed  much  like 
a  French  Gothic  pier,  having 
a  buttress  {a.  Fig.  1 12)  incor- 
porated with  it  from  the  level 
of  the  triforium.  This  but- 
tress is  reenforced  by  an 
arch  {b)  thrown  across  the 
triforium,  and  a  flying  buttress 
(r)  springing  over  the  aisle 
roof.  The  united  pressures 
of  the  central  vault  and  the 
aisle  vault  are  taken  by  the  great  outer  buttress  id)  set 
against  the  respond  pier  of  the  aisle.  The  total  scheme  has 
a  good  deal  of  Gothic  character  mingled  with  features  (the 
vaulting  conoid,  the  superfluous  ribs,  etc.)  that  are  not  of  true 
Gothic  form.  Apart  from  the  points  in  which  it  fails  to  be 
Gothic,  the  structural  elements  of  this  work  are  plainly  the 
result  of  French  influence,  while  the  ornamental  details,  which 
shall  be  considered  in  a  future  chapter,  are  mainly  of  Anglo- 
Norman  character. 

At  the  transept  crossing  the  piers  show  most  unmistakably 
the  influence  of  the  work  of  William  of  Sens  at  Canterbury. 
These  piers  are,  in  fact,  structurally  identical  in  the  two  build- 
ings, except  that  the  Lincoln  piers  on  the  east  side  contain  two 
shafts  each  {a  in  A,  Fig.  113)  that  have  no  functional  office. 
With  this  exception  they  consist  in  each  building  of  a  massive 
central  column  surrounded  by  detached  monolithic  shafts  — 
each  one  of  which  sustains  a  rib  of  the  vaulting-.     These  shafts 


Fio.  III. 


206 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP, 


are  of  two  superimposed  groups,  the  first  group  having  their 
capitals  at  the  level  of  the  springing  of  the  ground-story  arches, 


Fig.  112.  —  Section  of  Choir  of  Lincoln. 


and  the  second  reaching  to  the  springing  of  the  high  vaults. 
But  while  at  Canterbury  (B  in  the  same  figure)  the  bases  and 
capitals  are  of  the  French  type,  —  the  capitals  having  square 


POLYTED    CONSTRUCTION^  IN  ENGLAND 


207 


abaci  and  Corinthianesque  foliage,  and  the  bases  square  plinths, 
—  those  of  Lincoln  are  of  the  Anglo-Norman  type,  the  capitals 
having  round  abaci  and  the  bases  round  plinths.     The  useless 


m 


:i 


i 


A  B 

Fig.  113.  —  Lincoln  and  Canterbury. 


shafts  occur,  however,  in  the  Lincoln  piers,  only  on  the  east 
side  of  the  crossing ;  and  these  evidently  do  not  belong  to  the 
original  work  of  the  time  of  Bishop  Hugh.  They  are  of  a 
character  which  corresponds  with  the  work  of  the  Presbytery, 


2o8  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

and  are  thus  probably  alterations  made  when  the  Presbytery 
was  built.  The  piers  on  the  west  side,  while  designed  on  the 
same  general  scheme,  are  materially  different.  Only  one  of 
them  (the  one  at  the  southwest  corner)  appears  to  be  an 
entirely  unaltered  piece  of  the  original  work,  and  in  this  pier 
the  useless  secondary  shafts  do  not  occur. 

The  arches  of  the  ground-story  arcade  are  obtusely  pointed, 
and  of  two  elaborately  moulded  orders.  The  triforium  open- 
ings consist  of  coupled  pointed  arches,  each  embracing  a  sub- 
order of  two  lesser  pointed  arches  carried  on  clustered  shafts. 
The  triforium  has  no  enclosing  wall,  but  is  open,  exposing  to 
view  the  timbers  of  the  aisle  roof,  which,  as  I  have  before  re- 
marked, is  common  in  the  pointed  architecture  of  England. 
The  clerestory  is  of  a  peculiarly  Anglo-Norman  type  (see  above, 
Fig.  no),  and  is  quite  unlike  the  true  Gothic  clerestory.  This 
type  appears  to  have  been  first  developed  in  the  east  end  of 
Canterbury  in  the  part  that  may  be  the  work  of  the  English 
William.  It  consists,  as  before  remarked,  of  two  planes  of 
masonry  with  a  passageway  between  them,  and  three  openings 
in  each  plane,  of  which  the  central  one  is  the  larger.  Thus 
grouped  and  varied  in  magnitude,  the  three  openings  pleasantly 
fill  the  space  encompassed  by  the  arch  of  the  vault,  and  make 
a  good  architectural  composition.  But  a  clerestory  of  this  type 
is  not  suitable  for  a  Gothic  building,  because  it  retains  the  walls 
which  are  incompatible  with  the  spirit  and  principles  of  the 
Gothic  system.  In  this  early  clerestory  of  the  choir  of  Lincoln 
a  third  opening  of  diminutive  size  is  added  on  either  side  of 
the  central  one  in  the  inner  plane,  making  a  group  of  five 
arches  in  all.  This  form  of  clerestory  is  apparently  of  Norman 
origin,  and  occurs  in  the  Abbaye-aux-Dames  at  Caen  (Fig.  121), 
and  in  many  other  later  Norman  buildings  both  in  Normandy 
and  in  England. 

The  general  effect  of  the  choir  of  Lincoln  was  doubtless 
greatly  damaged  by  the  destruction  of  the  original  chevet. 
The  much  over-praised  angel  choir  is  not  an  appropriate  termi- 
nation for  the  early  choir  and  east  transept,  and  affords  no 
adequate  compensation  for  the  loss  of  the  apse  of  Geoffrey 
de  Noyers. 

Contemporaneous  with  Canterbury  and  Lincoln  is  the  Church 
of  St.  Mary,  New  Shoreham.     Its  ground  story  dates  from  about 


VI  POINTED    CONSTRUCTION  IN  ENGLAND  209 

1175,^  and  its  upper  portions  from  1 190  to  1210.  The  nave 
has  oblong  quadripartite  vaulting  on  a  full  set  of  ribs  of  French 
profile,  and  the  transverse  and  longitudinal  ribs  are  pointed. 
These  ribs,  however,  all  spring  from  the  same  level,  and  thus 
the  vault  surfaces  are  not  narrowed  against  the  piers.  The  sys- 
tem is  not  the  same  on  both  sides  of  the  nave.  On  the  north 
side  the  ground-story  piers  are  heavy  columns,  alternately  round 
and  octagonal  with  capitals  of  corresponding  form.  The  great 
archivolts  are  pointed  and  of  three  heavy  orders,  and  the  arcade, 
as  a  whole,  bears  a  strong  resemblance  to  that  of  Malmesbury. 
The  vaulting  shafts  start  from  corbels  at  the  triforium  string, 
and  hence  the  lower  system  has  no  organic  relationship  to 
the  vaulting.  The  design  of  the  south  side  is  more  organic. 
The  ground-story  pier  here  has  a  form  which  resembles  a 
group  of  small  shafts  corresponding  in  number  with  the  arch 
orders  and  crowned  with  capitals  having  square  abaci  and  some- 
what French  forms.  The  vaulting  shafts  start  from  the  pave- 
ment, which  gives  a  more  Gothic  aspect  to  the  system ;  but 
there  are  only  three  of  them  in  each  pier,  and  their  grouped 
capitals,  crowned  with  a  single  round  abacus,  carry  the  five 
ribs  of  the  vaulting.  The  whole  construction  is  ponderous, 
and  the  triforium  and  clerestory  are  heavily  walled.  The 
external  system  has  clumsy  flying  buttresses  alternating  with 
pier  buttresses  of  slight  development,  an  arrangement  which 
would  be  appropriate  for  a  sexpartite  system  (were  it  not  that 
these  flying  buttresses  are  set  opposite  the  piers  which  in  a 
sexpartite  system  would  be  the  intermediate  ones),  but  which  is 
illogical  in  the  regular  sy.stem  that  actually  exists.  In  this 
building  we  have,  then,  at  a  period  when  the  Gothic  of  France 
was  almost  fully  developed,  an  instance  of  a  practically  Roman- 
esque design  modified  by  the  incorporation  of  some  .Gothic  fea- 
tures. It  is  a  transitional  building  only  in  the  limited  sense  in 
which  it  is  proper  to  call  anything  transitional  in  England. 
That  is  to  say,  it  is  a  building  in  which  the  pointed  arch  takes 
the  place  of  the  round  arch  in  the  vaulting  as  well  as  in  some 
other  parts ;  but  it  is  not  transitional  in  the  way  that  the  earlier 
French  buildings  are,  because  it  exhibits  no  original  and  funda- 
mental structural  innovations.  Everything  that  is  done  here  had 
been  better  done  in  France  at  least  half  a  century  before. 

1  Cf.  Sharpe,  Chichester  Cathedral  and  St.  Alarm's,  New  Shoreham. 
p 


2IO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

Conspicuous  instances  of  a  peculiar  and  extensive  class  of 
early  pointed  buildings  in  England  are  the  ruined  abbey 
churches  of  Byland  and  Whitby.  The  pointed  arch  prevails 
throughout  these  buildings  except  in  the  aisle  openings  of 
Byland  and  in  the  encompassing  arch  of  the  triforium  of 
Whitby.  But  the  naves  of  these  buildings  had  no  vaulting,  and 
were  evidently  not  intended  to  have  vaulting,  though  shafts, 
like  vaulting  shafts,  rise  from  corbels,  situated  a  little  below  the 
triforium  string,  to  the  top  of  the  wall.  These  shafts  are  thus 
only  decorative  features,  and  the  buildings  throughout,  notwith- 
standing their  pointed  arches  and  rich  mouldings,  are  the  same 
in  principle  as  those  of  the  round-arched  Romanesque.  They 
consist  of  massive  walls  with  timber  roofs  originally  over  their 
naves  without  any  consistent  organic  framework  of  a  Gothic 
nature.  Rievaulx  Abbey,  a  building  in  other  respects  of  the 
same  class,  had  a  vaulted  nave;  but  the  remains  of  this  system 
show  that  it  had  little  true  Gothic  character.  The  vault  ribs 
all  spring  from  the  same  level.  The  vaulting  shafts  do  not 
form  parts  of  the  lower  piers.  Nothing  like  the  Gothic  pier, 
rising  through  the  successive  stories,  exists;  and  although  there 
are  remains  of  flying  buttresses,  they  are  so  weak  and  so  low 
that  they  could  have  had  little  more  than  an  ornamental  value. 

In  the  ruins  of  St.  Joseph's  Chapel,  Glastonbury,  dating 
from  1 184,  are  remains  of  vaulting  of  true  Gothic  character; 
but  the  other  parts  of  the  building  are  wholly  without  a  corre- 
sponding development.  It  is  a  small,  single-aisled  structure  of 
rich  and  beautiful  Norman  design. 

A  nearer  approach  to  Gothic  construction  is  found  in  the 
early  portions  of  Ripon  Cathedral.  The  internal  systems  of 
the  choir  and  transept  of  this  monument  (dating  from  the  latter 
part  of  the  twelfth  century)  exhibit  features  that  are  closely 
similar  to  the  twelfth-century  Gothic  of  France.  The  vaulting, 
however,  for  which  admirable  provision  is  made,  seems  never  to 
have  been  carried  out.  Only  three  bays  of  the  north  side  of 
the  choir  retain  their  original  form.  In  these  a  group  of  five 
vaulting  shafts  in  each  pier  rise  from  the  capitals  of  the 
ground-story  arcade.  These  shafts  are  crowned  with  appro- 
priate capitals  at  the  level  of  the  clerestory  string,  in  evident 
preparation  for  a  full  system  of  vault  ribs.  But  the  intended 
vaulting  not  having    been  constructed,  a   clerestory  wall    was 


VI  POINTED    CONSTRUCTION  IN  ENGLAND  211 

added  with  a  level  cornice,  and  a  single  shaft  was  carried  up  to 
the  top  of  the  wall  from  each  group  of  vaulting  capitals.^  In 
the  transept  the  likeness  to  French  Gothic  is  still  more 
marked.  There  only  three  vaulting  shafts  occur  in  each  pier; 
but  they  all  rise  from  the  pavement,  so  that,  with  appropriate 
vaulting,  this  transept  would  be  almost  identical  in  structural 
character  with  contemporaneous  work  in  France.  The  outer 
openings  of  Ripon  are  small  and  round  arched,  as  in  early  tran- 
sitional Gothic,  and  the  massive  walls  are  provided  externally 
with  shallow  Romanesque  buttresses. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  buildings  thus  far  noticed  are  very 
diverse  in  character,  though  in  all  of  them  the  pointed  arch 
is  more  or  less  employed.  In  some  instances  this  arch  is 
used  with  a  structural  purpose  in  portions  of  the  edifice  only, 
as  in  the  aisle  vaults  of  Malmesbury;  in  others  its  use  is  more 
general  and  a  functional  system  of  supports  is  connected  with 
it,  so  that  a  really  Gothic  character  largely  pervades  the  work, 
as  in  the  choirs  of  Canterbury  and  Lincoln.  But  in  the  greater 
number  of  cases  the  pointed  arch  is  used  without  genuine  struc- 
tural significance,'  and  in  hardly  a  single  case  do  we  find  any 
approach  to  a  true  Gothic  skeleton.  Taken  together,  these  early 
pointed  monuments  of  England  do  not  exhibit  such  unity  and  con- 
sistency of  inventive  purpose  as  would  mark  the  growth  of  an 
original  and  peculiar  structural  development.  A  further  illus- 
stration  of  this  is  afforded  by  the  aisle  vaulting  of  the  nave  of 
Peterborough  (Fig.  1 14),  which,  though  dating  from  the  last 
quarter  of  the  twelfth  century,^  is  of  a  primitive  Norman  form 
with  low  segmental  groin  ribs.  In  comparison  with  this  the  aisle 
vaulting  of  the  Church  of  St.  Etienne  of  Beauvais(Fig.  17,  p.  54), 
more  than  half  a  century  earlier,  is  a  work  of  advanced  character. 

The  lack  of  a  truly  Gothic  spirit  among  the  mediaeval 
architects  of  England  becomes  more  marked  in  the  thirteenth 
century,  as  the  so-called  early  English  style  takes  form.  The 
works  of  this  period  are  distinguished  by  the  general  adoption 

^  I  have  not  examined  the  system  of  Ripon  Cathedral  on  the  spot.  The  piers,  up 
to  the  clerestory  level,  are  shown  in  photographs  as  described  in  the  text,  while  the 
form  of  the  clerestory  is  given  on  the  authority  of  Sharpe  {Seven  Periods  of  English 
Church  Architecture,  plate  vi).  This  choir  was  lately  covered  with  a  wooden  imita- 
tion of  vaulting  designed  by  Sir  Gilbert  Scott. 

^Cf.  King's  Handbook  to  the  Cathedrals  of  England^  London,  1862,  pp.  55,  56. 


212 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


of  the  pointed  arch  in  their  design,  but  rather  for  decorative 
ends  than  as  the  result  of  structural  necessities,  and  by  the 
development  of  peculiar  features  in  the  vaulting  and  the  mem- 
bers connected  with  it,  which  add  nothing  to  the  strength,  but 
much  to  the  intricacy,  of  the  construction.  Among  the  most 
important  as  well  as  among  the  earliest  of  these  is  the  nave 
of  Lincoln,  erected  between  1209  and  1235.  The  employment 
in  vaulting  of  ribs  having  no  necessary  function,  which  we  find 
first  in  the  choir  of  the  same  church,  reappears  in  the  nave, 


Fig.  114.  —  Aisle  vault  of  Peterborough. 

where  numerous  superfluous  ribs  are  introduced.  This  practice 
seems  to  have  had  a  singular  fascination  for  the  English  build- 
ers ;  and  the  predilection  for  such  ribs  gathered  strength  as  the 
native  taste  asserted  itself  more  and  more  until,  in  the  so-called 
fan  vaulting  of  the  perpendicular  style,  —  the  first  style  of  archi- 
tecture that  can  properly  be  called  English,  —  the  rib  system 
becomes  a  complicated  network  forming  elaborate  panelling  on 
the  surface  of  the  vault. 

In  the  vaults  of  the  nave  of  Lincoln  there  are  six  unneces- 
sary ribs  in  each  vaulting  compartment ;  namely,  four  tiercerons, 


VI 


POINTED   CONSTRUCTION  IN  ENGLAND 


2t3 


a  in  the  plan,  Fig.  115,  and  two  Hemes,  b  in  the  same  figure. 
The  longitudinal  arches  have  an  approximately  elliptical  form, 
and  they  spring  from  a  level  not  much  above  that  of  the  spring- 
ing of  the  transverse  and  diagonal  ribs,  in  consequence  of 
which  the  vaulting  conoid  (A,  Fig.  116),  midway  between  the 
springing  and  the  crown,  has  the  section  shown  at  B  in  the  same 
figure.  Thus  here  again  the  vault  thrusts  are  not  gathered 
upon  the  pier  in  the  true  Gothic  manner.  It  will  be  seen  also, 
in  the  section  B,  that  the  ribs  of  these  vaults  are  so  arranged 
as  to  give  a  convex  curve  to  the  surface  of  the  vaulting  conoid. 
This  peculiarity  marks  an  early  step  in  the  direction  of  that 
fan  vaulting  which,  as  just  remarked,  subsequently   became  a 


h 

^-"-^^^ 

^^--^ 

-^^ 

— "o'^      ^^/ 

a\ 

}>\ 

* 

/a 

yet       y' 

^ 

"- 

^^\     a\ 

X^^^-^^"""^ 

^^ 

h 

^^ 

a.~~- — -^-.-^^x\ 

FIG.  115. 

conspicuous  feature  of  English  pointed  design.  The  rib  sys- 
tem of  the  nave  of  Lincoln  is  mainly  supported  by  the  wall, 
which  it  penetrates,  rather  than  by  the  vaulting  shafts  below. 
These  vaulting  shafts  consist,  in  each  pier,  of  three  very  slender 
and  compactly  grouped  members  which  rise  from  a  corbel 
placed  just  above  the  great  ground-story  capital.  They  are  too 
slender  to  be  effective  even  to  the  eye ;  and  are  thus,  like  the 
vaulting  shafts  of  Byland  and  Whitby,  rather  decorative  than 
structurally  necessary  features.  The  grouping  of  members  in 
the  lower  piers  has  reference  to  the  arch  orders  of  the  ground- 
story  arcade  and  to  the  vaulting  of  the  aisles  only ;  they  are 
entirely  unrelated  to  the  high  vaulting.  These  lower  piers  are 
of  three  varieties,  whose  sections  are  given  at  A,  B,  and  C, 
respectively,  in  Fig.  117.  The  small  detached  shafts  of  A  and 
B  are  in  two  monolithic  sections,  and  are  bonded  with  the  pier 


214 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


by  a  projecting  band  at  their  junction.  The  engaged  shafts, 
with  the  keel  fillets  of  the  section  C,  are  built  up  in  courses  with 
the  main  body  of  the  pier.  These  are,  indeed,  pretty  sections, 
and  the  actual  piers  are  objects  of  much  beauty,  but  their  want 
of  connection  with  the  vaulting  excludes  them  from  the  cate- 
gory of  strictly  Gothic  forms.  The  clerestory  is  again  of  the 
Anglo-Norman  type,  which  retains  a  good  deal  of    solid  wall 

beneath  the  arch  of  the  vault. 
Both  it  and  the  triforium  differ 
from  those  of  the  choir  in  their 
proportions  and  ornamental 
details  only. 

All  the  interior  arcades  of 
this  nave  have  hood  mould- 
ings, which  increase  the  effect 
of  multiplicity  in  the  lines  of 
the  arches  —  an  effect  that 
was  evidently  pleasing  to  the 
Anglo-Norman  taste  even  as 
early  as  the  time  of  the  con- 
struction of  the  archivolts  of 
Malmesbury.  The  vaults  of 
the  aisles  are  in  five  cells  (as 
are  those  of  the  choir  also)  — 
a  half-intermediate  transverse 
rib  on  the  wall  side  dividing 
into  two  parts  what  would 
otherwise  have  been  a  single 
cell.  This  half-rib  is  carried 
by  a  monolithic  detached  shaft 
resting  on  a  corbel  placed  just 
above  the  string-course  which 
runs  along  the  wall  at  the  level  of  the  window  sills.  The  main 
transverse  ribs  of  the  aisle  vaults  are  carried  by  responds  con- 
sisting of  five  closely  grouped  monolithic  shafts,  while  a  cusped 
arcade  is  carried  along  the  aisle  wall. 

The  buttress  system  of  the  nave  of  Lincoln  is,  like  the 
internal  system  to  which  it  belongs,  largely  wanting  in  struc- 
tural efificiency  and  completeness.  The  clerestory  wall  is  un- 
broken   externally   by    pier   buttresses.      It   has    a   continuous 


Fig.  ii6. 


VI  POINTED    CONSTRUCTION  IN  ENGLAND  21 5 

shafted  arcade  of  alternate  groups  of  three  wide  arches  opening 
into  the  nave,  and  three  narrow  blind  arches.  The  central 
blind  arch  in  each  group  occupies  the  place  that  would  be 
taken  by  a  pier  buttress  in  any  logical  buttress  system,  and 
against  the  wall  enclosed  by  this  arch  the  head  of  the  flying 
buttress  abuts,  with  the  effect,  to  the  eye,  of  piercing  the  wall. 
The  level  of  this  abutment  is  but  little  above  the  line  where  the 
aisle  roof  meets  the  wall,  and  the  very  small  pier  buttress  — 
which  rises  through  this  roof  to  the  intrados  of  the  abutting 
arch  —  is  hardly  noticeable  in  a  general  view  of  the  building 
(Fig.  118).  A  comparison  of  this  clerestory  with  that  of  the 
nearly  contemporaneous  clerestory  (Fig.  J^,  p.  151,  and  Plate 
III)  of  the  nave  of  Amiens  will  afford  an  instructive  illustra- 


tion of  the  difference  between  Anglo-Norman  pointed  construc- 
tion and  that  of  the  true  Gothic,  in  this  important  part  of  an 
edifice. 

The  Cathedral  of  Salisbury  is  commonly  considered  as  ex- 
hibiting the  early  English  style  in  its  purest  form,  and  it  is 
therefore  an  important  building  for  comparison  with  the  new 
architecture  of  the  Continent.  The  structure  was  begun  in  1220,. 
contemporaneously  with  the  nave  of  Amiens,  and  the  two 
buildings  may  be  taken  as  fairly  typical  of  the  respective  styles. 
The  nave  of  Salisbury  is  roofed  with  quadripartite  vaults  of 
greater  simplicity  than  those  of  either  the  choir  or  the  rvave  of 
Lincoln.  The  rib  system  contains  none  but  functionally  neces- 
sary members,  and  in  this  system,  as  well  as  in  the  forms  of  the 
vault  surfaces,  there  are  many  points  of  likeness  to  French 
vaulting.  The  most  important  of  these  is  that  which  results  , 
from  the  forms  of  the  lonjiitudinal  arches  which   rise  for  some  '' 


2l6 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


distance  in  a  line  more  nearly  approaching  a  vertical  than  is 
common  in  England,  and  give  something  of  that  concentration 
of  thrusts,  and  those  necessarily  twisted  surfaces,  that  charac- 
terize the  true  Gothic.  Figure  1 19,  a  perspective  view  of  one  of 
the  vaulting  conoids,  will  illustrate  this.  In  this  vaulting  the 
longitudinal  arch  is  provided  with  a  more  pronounced  rib  than 
is  usual  in  English  buildings.     An  important  structural  defect, 

however,  will  be  noticed  in  the 
absence  of  upright  supporting 
members  for  the  rib  of  this 
arch.  The  longitudinal  ribs 
have  no  visible  supports 
whatever;  they  penetrate  the 
vault  surfaces  at  a  consider- 
able height  above  the  spring- 
ing, and  leave  the  reentrant 
angles,  formed  by  the  vault 
and  the  clerestory  wall,  ex- 
posed to  view. 

Below  the  vaulting  a  wide 
departure  from  Gothic  prin- 
ciples of  design  is  manifest. 
There  is  no  connection  be- 
tween the  vaults  and  the  lower 
stories  of  the  structure.  The 
extremely  short  vaulting  shafts 
rest  on  corbels  situated  far 
above  the  springing  of  the 
triforium  arches ;  and  thus 
no  continuous  upright  mem- 
bers embrace  even  two  of  the 
stories  of  the  edifice,  and  there 
would  be  hardly  less  of  an  organic  structural  system  if  the 
vaults  were  carried  on  corbels  alone. ''^ The  ground  story  and 
the  triforium  are  continuous  arcades  without  division  into 
bays,  and  the  unbroken  string  between  them  makes  a  pro- 
nounced horizontal  line  from  end  to  end  of  the  nave.  The 
design  has  no  features  below  the  clerestory  that  would  convey 
the  idea  of  a  vaulted  structure.  The  clerestory  is  heavily 
walled   in,    as    is    usual    in    England,    and   is   lighted    by   the 


Nave  of  Lincoln. 


POINTED   CONSTRUCTION  IN  ENGLAND 


217 


customary  threefold  openings.  Thus  here  as  elsewhere  in  the 
English  pointed  architecture  of  the  thirteenth  century  the 
openings  remain  merely  windows  in  walls,  while  in  the  contem- 
porary Gothic  of  France  the  whole  clerestory  space  is  occupied 
by  one  vast  opening,  as  in  Plate  III.  The  triforium  consists  of  a 
very  obtusely  pointed  arch  of  three  orders  encompassing  two 
lesser  arches,  each  again  embracing  two  still  smaller  ones. 
The  great  encompassing  arch 
is  necessarily  so  depressed  as 
to  accord  ill  with  the  more 
acute  forms  of  those  with 
which  it  is  associated,  and  its 
slightly  curved  sides  form 
awkward  angles  at  the  spring- 
ing. >:The  great  arches  of  the 
ground  story,  like  most  of 
the  other  arches  throughout 
the  building,  are  equilateral  — 
that  is  to  say,  the  centres  of 
their  curves  are  in  the  angles 
of  the  bases  of  equilateral 
triangles,  and  are  thus  at  the 
points  of  springing.  This 
form  of  arch,  or  one  closely 
similar,  generally  prevails  in 
France.  It  is  also  very  com- 
mon in  England  —  as  in  the 
Chapel  of  the  Nine  Altars  at 
Durham,  the  Presbytery  of 
Ely,  and  in  many  of  the  ab- 
bey churches  —  as  Tintern, 
Bridlington,  Netley,  Rievaulx, 
Whitby,  Byland,  Kirkstall,  and 

others.  But  the  distinctively  Anglo-Norman  type  is  rather 
the  lancet  form,  the  centres  of  whose  curves  lie  beyond  the 
points  of  springing,  right  and  left  —  as  in  the  smaller  arches 
of  the  nave  of  Lincoln,  and  the  pier  arches  of  Westminster 
Abbey.  The  arch  sections  of  this  nave  are  rounded  in 
conformity  with  the  usual  Anglo-Norman  custom,  and  the 
archivolts    are  everywhere  provided  with  hood   moulds.     The 


Fig.  119. —  Salisbury. 


2i8  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

lower  piers  are  composed  of  four  mutually  engaged  round 
columns  of  coursed  masonry,  with  four  slender  monolithic 
shafts  set  at  their  intersections,  the  whole  forming  a  com- 
pound member  whose  parts  correspond  with  the  orders  of  the 
superposed  arches. 

The  buttress  system  of  Salisbury  is  very  imperfectly  devel- 
oped. Nothing  more  than  a  pilaster  strip  is  employed  exter- 
nally. Beneath  the  aisle  roof  flying  buttresses  are  brought  to 
bear  against  the  springing  of  the  vaults;  but  the  lateral  press- 
ures are  almost  sufficiently  provided  for  by  massiveness  of 
wall  construction  — the  wall  at  the  level  of  the  clerestory  being 
about  two  metres  thick.  No  continuous  pier  reaching  from 
the  pavement  to  the  external  cornice  occurs  in  the  fabric,  no 
external  flying-buttress  system  is  employed,  and  consequently 
there  is  no  functional  framework,  as  in  true  Gothic  design.  It 
is  essentially  a  walled  edifice  hardly  less  ponderous  than  Dur- 
ham itself,  notwithstanding  its  pointed  arches,  its  multiplied 
mouldings,  and  its  slender  shafts,  which  give  it  a  lighter  appear- 
ance, and,  to  a  superficial  eye,  somewhat  of  Gothic  effect. 

Perhaps  the  next  English  cathedral  of  importance,  though 
it  is  not  a  building  of  the  first  magnitude,  is  that  of  Wells, 
whose  nave  and  transept,  erected  during  the  episcopate  of 
Bishop  Jocelin  (i 206-1 242),  are  contemporaneous  with  the 
naves  of  Lincoln  and  Salisbury.  In  the  nave  of  Wells  we  have 
a  repetition  of  some  of  the  peculiarities  which  have  just  been 
noticed  in  that  of  Salisbury,  while  it  exhibits  some  other  fea- 
tures that  are  still  farther  removed  from  Gothic  forms.  Here, 
as  at  Salisbury,  the  vaults  are,  indeed,  of  true  Gothic  character, 
but  the  substructure  is  not  correspondingly  so.  The  vaulting 
shafts  descend  but  little  way  below  the  clerestory  string,  and 
thus  the  nave,  below  the  vaulting,  is  not  divided  into  bays  by 
continuous  upright  supports.  The  triforium  is  an  unbroken 
arcade  of  narrow  pointed  openings,  without  encompassing 
arches  gathering  them  into  groups,  extending  the  whole  length 
of  the  nave  in  a  wall  of  Norman  massiveness.  The  piers  and 
pier  arches  are  excessively  ponderous,  though  their  effect  is 
lightened  by  numerous  subdivisions  into  shafts  and  mouldings. 
The  buttress  system  consists,  again,  of  concealed  flying  but- 
tresses and  external  pilaster  strips.  Thus  with  Wells  as  with 
SaHsbury  there  is  no  real  skeleton  to  the  building.     Its  stability 


POINTED   CONSTRUCTION  IN  ENGLAND 


219 


resides  in  its  heavy  walls  as  much  as  that  of  any  Romanesque 
structure.  I  have  likened  Salisbury  in  point  of  structure  to 
Durham ;  Wells  is  in  some  points  strikingly  like  an  even 
earlier    Norman    building  —  the    Abbave-aux-Dames    at   Caen. 


Fig.  120.  —  System  of  Nave  of  Wells. 


This  likeness  is  partially  illustrated  by  Figs.  120  and  121, — 
portions  of  the  interiors  of  Wells  and  the  Abbaye-aux-Dames 
respectively.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  triforiums  are  almost 
identical  in   character,  that  the  imposts   in  both  buildings  are 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


continuous  —  that  is  to  say,  there  are   no    capitals    or   mould- 
ings at  the  springing  of  the   arches  —  and  even  the   sections 


Fk;.  121.  -  Svsicm  of  the  Abbave-aux-Dames. 


of  the  jambs  and   arches  are  the  same.       If  the  drip  mould- 
ings were  removed  from  the  triforium  arches  of  Wells,  the  only 


VI  POINTED    CONSTRUCTION  IN  ENGLAND  221 

difference  between  the  two  examples  would  be  that  the  one 
has  round  and  the  other  pointed  arches.  But  the  Abbaye-aux- 
Dames  is  not,  like  Wells  Cathedral,  devoid  of  continuous  vault- 
ing supports.  It  has  shafts  rising  from  the  pavement  and 
thus  dividing  the  nave  into  bays  in  the  manner  that  is  common 
to  organic  vaulted  architecture  —  both  Romanesque  and  Gothic. 
The  lower  piers  and  pier  arches  are,  moreover,  actually  lighter 
than  those  of  Wells,  though,  owing  to  their  fewer  subdivisions, 
the  general  effect  is  more  ponderous. 

The  structural  system  of  the  Abbaye-aux-Dames  is  logical 
and  organic  as  far  as  it  goes,  and  in  this  respect  it  approaches 
the  nature  of  Gothic.  But  Wells,  though  a  building  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  fails  to  be  Gothic  because  it  has  no  such 
system  as  a  basis  for  its  ornamental  features,  which  have  more 
or  less  of  Gothic  character.  There  is  moreover,  in  other  fea- 
tures besides  those  already  mentioned,  a  close  similarity  between 
these  two  monuments,  notwithstanding  that  they  are  at  least  a 
century  and  a  half  apart  in  date.  Both  are  essentially  heavy 
walled  edifices,  both  have  their  flying  buttresses  concealed 
beneath  the  aisle  roof,  and  both  display  only  pilaster  strips 
against  the  clerestory  wall.  In  still  other  points,  also,  the 
likeness  largely  holds.  The  triple  openings  of  the  clerestory 
and   the  great  lantern    at  the  crossing  of  nave  and  transept 

—  features  which   have  been   regarded   as    peculiarly   English 

—  are  common  to  both. 

Indeed  it  may  be  said  of  most  early  English  churches  that 
in  general  form  and  construction  they  differ  little  from  the  Nor- 
man Romanesque.  The  choir  of  Ely,  the  choir  and  smaller 
transept  of  Worcester,  the  great  transept  of  Lincoln,  the  choir 
of  Chester,  the  transept  of  York  (which  has  no  vault  but  a 
wooden  imitation  of  a  vault),  and  other  similar  buildings, 
present  substantially  the  same  characteristics.  So  plain,  indeed, 
is  the  identity  of  essential  structural  forms  that  one  has  only 
to  make  even  a  general  comparison  in  order  to  perceive  that 
the  early  pointed  architecture  of  England  is  mainly  a  Norman 
product  somewhat  modified  by  native  English  influence  on  the 
one  hand  and  French  influence  on  the  other,  and  that  it  is,  at 
most,  very  imperfectly  Gothic.^ 

^  While  we  are  thus  forced  to  regard  the  pointed  architecture  of  England  as 
fundamentally  lacking  in  that  organic  consistency  and  conipleteness  which  marks  the 


222  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

Westminster  Abbey  is,  however,  an  exception  and  is,  after 
the  choir  of  Lincoln,  the  most  Gothic  structure  in  England.  It 
has  a  complete  and  continuous  vaulting  system  and  a  Gothic 
system  of  buttresses.  The  magnificent  vaulting  of  the  choir 
is  carried  on  supports  of  majestic  proportions,  and  the  general 
effect  of  the  interior  is  surpassed  by  that  of  few  continental 
monuments.  The  choir  of  Beverley  Minster  has  something  of 
the  elevated  proportions  of  Westminster,  but  its  general  system 
presents  the  same  lack  of  Gothic  character  that  we  find  in  most 
other  English  monuments.  Its  vaulting  has,  indeed,  no  super- 
fluous ribs,  but  the  ribs  which  it  has  are  not  so  adjusted  as 
to  give  the  vault  the  true  Gothic  form. 

Nor  are  Gothic  principles  carried  out  more  fully  in  the  later 
structures  of  the  thirteenth  century  in  England.  Of  these 
later  structures  one  of  the  most  famous  is  the  Presbytery  of 
Lincoln,  which  dates  from  about  1270.  Its  vaults  have,  in 
addition  to  the  true  functional  ribs,  two  iiercerons  in  each  com- 
partment. These  ribs  all  spring  from  the  same  point,  which 
is  situated  a  little  above  midway  between  the  triforium  and 
clerestory  strings.  The  longitudinal  rib,  hardly  more  than  a 
moulding,  interpenetrates  at  the  springing,  so  that  only  one  of 
its  fillets  is  disengaged  below  the  clerestory  string.  Above  this 
level  it  soon  emerges  completely.  The  vault  surfaces  are  slightly 
winding  above  the  springing;  but  the  twist  is  soon  lost,  so  that 
the  vaulting  conoid,  at  half  the  vertical  height  of  the  vault, 
is  nearly  square;  and  the  courses  of  masonry,  which  are  practi- 
cally parallel  and  level  all  the  way  up  to  the  crown  of  the 
vault,  are  nearly  perpendicular  to  the  wall.  Hence  the  ridges 
are  level,  and  the  surfaces  are  but  slightly  concave.  The  form 
is  nearly  that  of  a  simple  intersecting  pointed  vault  —  a  form 
which  Gothic  vaults  never  have.  Five  small  and  compactly 
grouped  vaulting  shafts  carry  the  five  greater  ribs,  which  inter- 
penetrate at  the  springing  and  become  greatly  reduced  in  total 
bulk,  and  in  the  numbers  of  their  mouldings.  The  mouldings 
of  the  transverse,  diagonal,  tierceron,  and  longitudinal  ribs,  which 
are  respectively  as  at  A,  B,  C  (Fig.  I22y  are  reduced  by  inter- 
penetrations  to  the  impost  section  shown  at  D  in  the  same  figure. 

true  Gothic  style,  and  as  thus  inferior  in  architectural  nobility  to  the  Gothic  of  France, 
we  may  yet  recognize  that  it  has  often  a  peculiar  beauty  and  expression. 
1  B  is  the  profile  of  both  the  diagonal  and  titrceron  ribs. 


VI 


POINTED   CONSTRUCTION-  IN  ENGLAND 


223 


The  supporting  shafts,  though  corresponding  in  number  with 
the  three  functional  ribs  of  the  vault,  do  not  each  sustain  a  rib, 
as  in  the  French  Gothic.  The  architect  was  satisfied  with  an 
impost  having  a  general  conformity  in  the  form  of  the  com- 
pound support  with  that  of  the  load,  and  did  not  feel  the  neces- 
sity of  a  strictly  functional  relationship  between  the  individual 
parts  of  each.  The  vaulting  shafts  are  as  usual  stopped  upon 
corbels  not  far  below  the  trif orium  string ;  and  the  larger  mem- 
bers of  the  lower  piers  are  consequently  again  arranged  with 
reference  to  the  orders  of  the  pier  arches  only,  while  very 
slender  shafts  are  inserted  between  the  larger  ones,  for  which 
there  are  no  corresponding  members  in  the  archivolt.     Here, 


then,  once  more,  as  almost  constantly  in  Anglo-Norman  pointed 
architecture,  the  employment  of  structural  members  was  largely 
governed  by  ornamental  motives  without  a  logical  regard  to 
structural  propriety. 

The  clerestory  of  this  Presbytery  is  a  variation  of  the  early 
pointed  Norman  type,  and  consists  of  four  open  arches  in  each 
of  the  two  planes  —  the  inner  plane  having  in  addition  two  lesser 
blind  arches  filling  the  wall  spaces  on  either  side  (Fig.  123). 
The  triforium  and  lower  arcade  differ  in  decorative  treatment 
only  from  those  of  the  nave  and  choir.  Externally  there  is 
no  pier  buttress  whatever  —  not  even  a  pilaster  strip  —  either 
above  or  below  the  head  of  the  flying  buttress.  The  wall  space 
between  the  clerestory  openings  is  very  wide,  arid  is  adorned 
with  two  tall  shafted  niches,  between  which,  against  the  face  of 
the  wall,  the  flying  buttress  is  brought  to  bear  (Fig.  124). 


224  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

The  nave  of  Lichfield,  which  must  be  nearly  contempora- 
neous with  the  Presbytery  of  Lincoln,  differs  in  some  features 
from  the  buildings  already  noticed,  though  it  is  not  fundamen- 
tally different  in  structural  principle.  Its  vaults  exhibit  the 
peculiarity  of  having  no  proper  transverse  ribs.  In  place  of 
them  two  ribs  in  the  positions  of  ticrceroiis  spring  from  each 


Fig.  123.  —  Presbytery  of  Lincoln. 

pier.  This  would  be  a  bad  arrangement  from  a  structural  point 
of  view  were  it  not  for  the  presence  of  a  longitudinal  ridge  rib, 
an  otherwise  useless  member,  which  affords  abutments  to  the 
crowns  of  these  diverging  arches.  It  is  an  indefensible  arrange- 
ment by  which  nothing  is  gained ;  and  it  furnishes  another  of 
the  many  evidences  of  the  Anglo-Norman  lack  of  a  fine  sense 
of  either  structural  or  artistic  propriety.  Diagonals  and  longi- 
tudinal ribs,  cxo^'b-liernes,  and  a  secondary  rib  in  each  cross-cell 
are  included  in  the  framework  of  this  vaulting.     All  of  these 


VI 


PO/iVTED   CONSTRUCTION  IN  ENGLAND 


225 


ribs  (except,  of  course,  the  ridge  rib  and  the  lie7-nes)  spring  from 
the  level  of  the  clerestory  string.  There  is  thus  no  narrowing 
inward  of  the  vaulting  conoid,  giving  concentration  of  thrusts 
against  the  pier.  Three  vaulting  shafts  do  duty  for  eight  ribs, 
but  these  shafts  rise  from  the  pavement  and  give  a  degree  of 
Gothic  expression  which  is  not  common  in  the  pointed  architec- 
ture of  England  until  the  perpendicular  period.     The  clerestory 


Fig.  124.  —  Presbytery  of  Lincoln. 


of  Lichfield  is  unusually  low,  and  consists  of  a  single  opening 
(with  geometric  tracery)  having  the  peculiar  form  of  an  equi- 
lateral triangle  with  three  curved  sides.  The  whole  edifice  is 
excessively  heavy,  though,  as  in  so  many  other  cases,  the  effect 
is  lightened  by  multiplication  of  mouldings. 

Such  are  the  structural  characteristics  of  the  early  and  mid- 
dle pointed  architecture  of  England  in  so  far  as  concerns  the 
longitudinal  bays  both  external  and  internal.  There  is  no  need 
of  further  examination  of  them.     Nothing,  I  believe,  is  to  be 

Q 


226  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

found  in  other  buildings  essentially  different  from  the  forms  and 
adjustments  of  those  already  considered.  Hardly  such  a  thing 
as  a  continuous  pier,  all  of  whose  parts  are  logically  adjusted 
at  once  to  the  arcades  and  the  vaulting,  can  be  found  in  the 
country  except  in  the  case  of  Westminster  Abbey  ;  nor  am  I 
aware  of  the  existence  in  England  of  an  entirely  logical  and 
well-adjusted  buttress  system. 

From  what  has  been  already  said  it  follows  that  in  England 
the  mode  of  enclosure,  in  the  pointed  architecture  of  the 
twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  is  substantially  the  same  as 
in  the  round-arched  Norman  style.  Massive  walls  pierced  with 
comparatively  small  openings  continue  for  the  most  part  through- 
out this  period  —  which  in  France  embraces  that  of  the  highest 
Gothic  development.  The  openings  are,  indeed,  usually  larger 
than  they  are  in  the  older  style,  and  they  are  multiplied  and 
gathered  into  groups  so  as  to  give  a  larger  proportion  of  open- 
ing to  that  of  solid  wall ;  but  in  few  cases  does  the  wall  wholly 
disappear,  leaving  a  vast  glazed  opening,  as  in  the  Gothic  of 
France.  It  could  not,  in  fact,  be  otherwise,  since  the  Anglo- 
Norman  pointed  structure  has  no  such  sustaining  skeleton  of 
piers  and  buttresses  as  would  render  safe  the  entire  suppression 
of  the  walls.  It  was  not  until  after  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth 
century  that  openings  became  large  enough  to  require  dividing 
mullions  and  tracery.  And  when  at  length  grouped  lancets,  like 
those  of  the  east  end  of  Ely  and  the  south  transept  of  York, 
were  replaced  by  one  great  mullioned  and  traceried  opening  (and 
some  truly  magnificent  window  designs  were  produced,  of  which 
that  of  the  Presbytery  of  Lincoln  is  the  grandest),  even  these 
were  still  mere  openings  in  walls.  Rarely,  if  ever,  in  England 
does  the  wall  wholly  disappear,  so  that  the  rib  of  the  vault  and 
the  archivolt  of  the  aperture  become  one  and  the  same  member, 
as  in  the  clerestory  of  Amiens  and  other  French  monuments. 

Tracery  in  England,  when  it  comes  into  use,  follows  the 
French  models  until  after  the  thirteenth  century,  and  therefore 
requires  no  description. 

The  east  ends  in  this  architecture  are  usually  square,  even 
in  churches  of  the  largest  dimensions.  The  apsidal  form  is, 
however,  occasionally  met  with,  as  at  Lichfield  and  Westminster. 
Not  many  of  the  original  east  ends  have  survived ;    but  two 


VI  POINTED    CONSTRUCTION  IN  ENGLAND  227 

typical  and  important  ones  have  come  down  to  us  —  those, 
namely,  of  Ely  and  Lincoln,  which  date,  respectively,  from  the 
first  half  and  the  second  half  of  the  thirteenth  century.  In 
both  the  external  design  corresponds  with  the  internal  division 
into  nave  and  aisles.  These  divisions  are  in  each  case  marked 
by  boldly  projecting  buttresses,  and  a  higher  central  compart- 
ment is  in  both  surmounted  by  a  gable  which  follows  the  out- 
line of  the  timber  roof.  In  other  respects  the  two  examples 
differ  considerably.  That  of  Ely  has,  in  its  central  com- 
partment, three  tiers  of  grouped  lancets  —  three  tall  ones  of 
equal  height  in  the  lower  tier,  five  shorter  ones  of  graduated 
heights,  following  the  line  of  the  arch  of  the  vault,  in  the  second 
tier,  and  three  still  shorter  ones  of  nearly  equal  height,  flanked 
on  either  side  by  a  lower  blind  arch,  in  the  third  tier.  The 
lower  tier  embraces  in  height  both  the  ground  story  and  the 
triforium,  the  second  tier  is  in  the  clerestory,  while  the  third 
tier  occupies  the  lower  portion  of  the  gable,  lighting  the  space 
between  the  vaulting  and  the  timber  roof.  The  lateral  com- 
partments have  been  so  much  remodelled  that  their  original 
forms  cannot  be  precisely  determined,  but  if  their  upper  walls 
followed  the  lines  of  the  lean-to  aisle  roofs,  as  they  presumably 
did,  the  whole  composition  must  have  formed  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  eastern  ends  in  England. 

The  east  end  of  Lincoln  retains  its  side  compartments, 
as  well  as  the  central  one,  in  their  original  forms.  The 
central  compartment  has  one  vast  opening,  richly  divided 
by  mullions  and  tracery,  which,  however,  does  not  completely 
fill  the  space  between  the  buttresses,  —  a  narrow  strip  of  wall, 
with  a  shafted  blind  arch,  finding  place  on  either  side  of  it. 
Above  this,  over  the  vaulting,  is  a  smaller,  though  still  large, 
opening  of  similar  character,  with  two  blind  shafted  arches  on 
either  side  of  it.  These  arches,  including  that  of  the  opening, 
are  of  graduated  heights  in  conformity  with  the  raking  cor- 
nices beneath  which  they  fall.  The  lateral  compartments  con- 
tain each  one  wide  mullioned  and  traceried  window  on  the 
ground  story,  above  which  is  a  blind  arcade  of  five  arches, 
and  over  this  again  is  a  gable  having  no  conformity  with  the 
shape  of  the  aisle  roof,  but  rising  above  it  as  an  independent 
and  purely  ornamental  feature.  As  a  termination  for  the 
structure  to  which    it  is  affixed,  this  east    end    of    Lincoln  is 


228  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

thus  less  appropriate  and  expressive  than  that  of  Ely,  though, 
considered  as  an  independent  composition,  it  has  considerable 
beauty. 

The  east  end  of  Worcester  is  also  worthy  of  notice.  Here 
the  side  aisles  do  not  extend  to  the  extreme  end,  but  leave  the 
easternmost  bay  of  the  retro-choir  without  aisles.  The  exterior 
design  is  very  simple  and  monumental.  It  is  enclosed  by  vig- 
orous buttresses,  surmounted  with  shafted  pinnacles,  and  has 
a  group  of  five  lancets  of  equal  height  on  the  ground  story, 
with  a  taller  group  over  them  of  graduated  heights,  following 
the  form  of  the  vaulting  within.  In  the  gable  above  is  a  single 
trefoiled  opening.  Nothing  could  be  more  appropriate  or  more 
architecturally  effective  for  a  rectangular  east  end  without 
side  aisles. 

Transept  ends  are  naturally  treated  like  east  ends.  Where 
there  are  aisles,  the  fagade  is  divided  by  buttresses  into  three 
bays,  as  in  the  east  ends  of  Ely  and  Lincoln.  Where  no  aisles 
occur,  it  is  simply  enclosed  by  the  buttresses,  as  in  the  east  end 
of  Worcester.  The  earlier  transepts  of  Lincoln,  Worcester,  and 
Beverley  have  exteriors  which  are  among  the  finest  in  England. 
In  them  the  so-called  early  English  style  attains  its  most  logical, 
its  most  monumental,  and  its  most  beautiful  character.  These 
structures  deserve  to  be  ranked  with  the  best  architectural 
achievements  of  the  Middle  Ages.  The  purest  work  of  this 
kind  stands  in  relation  to  other  mediaeval  work  in  England 
as  the  Gothic  of  the  third  quarter  of  the  twelfth  century  in 
France  stands  to  the  transitional  and  the  later  Gothic.  It  may 
be  called  the  classic  type  of  Anglo-Norman  pointed  art.  An 
exceedingly  fine  example  of  this  type  is  the  front  of  the  west  tran- 
sept of  Beverley  Minster,  where  a  beautiful  early  wheel  window 
occupies  the  central  space  in  the  gable.  The  wheel  window  was 
in  England  never  developed  to  the  vast  proportions  and  mag- 
nificence that  it  attained  in  the  Ile-de-France ;  though,  on  a 
moderate  scale,  it  frequently  occurs,  —  generally  at  the  clere- 
story level,  —  as  in  the  west  transept  of  Lincoln,  where  the 
so-called  Dean's  Eye  exhibits  a  beautiful  example  of  plate 
tracery,  while  in  the  south  arm  of  the  transept  of  York  we 
have  a  fine  one  with  bar  tracery. 

Of  the  Anglo-Norman  western  facade,  little  in  praise  can 
be  said.     As  a  rule,  it  is  both  inappropriate  as  a  termination 


VI  POINTED   COiVSTRUCT/OAT  IN  ENGLAND  229 

of  the  building,  and  ill  composed  as  an  independent  architec- 
tural design.  Very  few  early  fai^ades  remain.  The  existing 
west  ends  of  the  greater  number  of  the  larger  churches  — 
York,  Canterbury,  Beverley,  Westminster,  and  many  others  — 
were  built  at  later  epochs  than  the  main  bodies  of  the  edifices 
to  which  they  are  attached.  The  most  important  extant  fronts 
of  the  thirteenth  century  are  those  of  Lincoln,  Salisbury,  Wells, 
and  Peterborough.  The  west  front  of  Lincoln  (Plate  IX)  is  a 
vast  arcaded  screen,  unbroken  by  continuous  upright  divisions, 
with  a  level  cornice  repeating  its  multiplied  horizontal  lines. 
A  gable  following  the  line  of  the  timber  roof  of  the  nave 
breaks  this  cornice  in  the  middle,  and  octagonal  stair  turrets 
at  each  end  are  crowned  with  heavy  pinnacles.  A  great  cen- 
tral, pointed-arched  recess  ^  reaches  almost  to  the  cornice,  and 
is  flanked  by  two  lesser  round-arched  recesses.  In  each  of 
these  recesses  is  a  round-headed  doorway,  giving  access,  respec- 
tively, to  the  nave  and  side  aisles ;  and  a  second  lateral  recess, 
of  much  smaller  dimensions,  on  each  side,  makes  up  a  total 
central  group  of  five  arched  recesses.  On  either  side  of  this 
group  the  walls  extend  for  a  considerable  distance  and  terminate 
in  the  turrets.  The  face  of  this  wall  is  enriched  by  five  tiers  of 
shafted  arcades  which  are  carried  around  the  turrets,  while  a 
single  arcade  of  intersecting  round  arches  flanks  the  central 
recess  over  the  subordinate  ones ;  and  over  this  again  a  sixth 
tier  of  tall  pointed  arcading  is  carried  across  the  entire  front 
and  around  the  turrets.  Behind  this  great  screen,  and  quite 
independent  of  it,  rise  two  lofty  square  towers  with  octagonal 
angle  turrets.  This  fagade  exhibits  four  different  styles  of 
architecture  —  the  work,  respectively,  of  as  many  different 
periods  of  construction.  The  three  greater  recesses  (with  ex- 
ception of  the  pointed  arch  of  the  central  one)  and  the  lower 
parts  of  the  towers  are  early  Norman,  belonging  to  the  origi- 
nal edifice,  which  was  dedicated  in  the  year  1073  ;  the  portals 
within  them  are  very  rich  and  beautiful  late  Norman  inser- 
tions of  about  1 140;  the  rest  of  the  great  screen  is  so-called 
early  English,  and  was  probably  completed  before  1235  ;  while 
the  upper  portions  of  the  towers  are  in  the  perpendicular 
style  of  the  fourteenth  century.  This  west  front  is  thus,  from 
an    historical    point   of    view,  one    of   the   most   interesting  in 

^  This  recess  was  originally  crowned  with  a  round  arch. 


230  ■  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

Europe,  but  as  an  architectural  combination  it  is  one  of  the 
least  admirable.  Of  structural  Gothic  character  it  has  noth- 
ing whatev^er,  and  as  a  termination  of  a  nave  with  lower  side 
aisles  is  wholly  inappropriate  and  inexpressive. 

Almost  equally  unrelated  to  the  building  with  which  it  is 
connected  is  the  west  front  of  the  Cathedral  of  Salisbury.  This 
is  again  a  mere  screen  with  a  level  cornice  cut  in  the  middle  by 
the  gable  of  the  nave,  and  with  a  square  turret  at  each  corner. 
These  turrets  are  crowned  with  heavy  and  projecting  cornices, 
above  which  rise  octagonal  pinnacles  without  any  features  to 
agreeably  unite  them.  Four  lesser  pinnacles  rise  at  the  four 
corners  of  the  square  tops  of  the  turrets ;  but  these,  while  they 
afford  some  help  to  the  composition,  do  not  suffice  to  make  it  a 
good  one.  This  fa(^ade,  however,  is  divided  by  buttresses,  fol- 
lowing the  lines  of  the  internal  divisions,  and  thus  has  some 
degree  of  conformity  with  the  design  which  it  encloses. 

A  different,  though  still  a  singularly  defective,  west  facade 
is  that  of  the  Cathedral  of  Wells.  It  consists  of  a  central  por- 
tion in  three  upright  compartments  formed  by  buttresses,  with 
two  vast  towers,  one  on  either  side,  forming  two  compartments 
more.  The  central  portion  embraces  both  nave  and  aisles  of  the 
building,  while  the  towers  extend  north  and  south  far  beyond 
the  walls  of  the  aisles.  A  vast  total  width  of  front  again  results, 
for  which  the  builders  in  England  seem  to  have  had  a  singular 
predilection.  This  facade  has  thus  in  reality  hardly  less  of  a 
screen-like  character  than  that  of  Lincoln,  though  the  strongly 
accented  vertical  divisions  give  it  a  somewhat  more  organic 
connection  with  the  main  body  of  the  building.  The  upper 
portions  of  the  aisle  compartments  are  false  walls  rising  above 
and  masking  the  aisle  roofs,  whose  lines  the  level  cornices 
with  which  they  are  crowned  contradict.  The  central  com- 
partment is  also  surmounted  by  a  rectangular  mass  of  wall 
having  no  more  relation  to  the  roof  of  the  nave  behind  it  than 
the  walls  of  the  lateral  compartments  have  to  the  roofs  of  the 
aisles.  The  portals  of  English  churches  are  in  general  insig- 
nificant and  diminutive,  and  those  of  Wells  are  especially  so. 
They  are,  in  fact,  singularly  ineffective  as  features  in  the  total 
design  of  the  west  front,  as  are  also  the  other  openings  of 
this  fagade,  with  the  exception  of  three  long  windows  in  the 
central   bay,  and   as  at  Lincoln  and   Salisbury,  they  are  very 


VI  POINTED   CONSTRUCTION  IN  ENGLAND  231 

small  in  proportion  to  the  extent  of  wall  space  in  which  they 
are  set.  They  are  little  more  than  loopholes,  which  would 
give  this  portion  of  the  building  a  very  fortress-like  aspect  were 
it  not  for  the  rich  arcading  and  the  multiplied  shafts  which 
adorn  the  composition  and  lighten  the  effect. 

Very  different  from  that  of  Wells,  though  hardly  better,  is 
the  west  fa<^ade  of  Peterborough.  This  design  is  again  entirely 
unrelated  to  the  building  which  it  encloses.  A  vast  porch  of 
three  colossal  arches,  flanked  by  towers  and  crowned  with  three 
ornamented  gables,  chiefly  constitute  this  front.  These  arches 
are  equal  in  height,  while  the  nave  and  aisles  behind  them  are, 
of  course,  unequal ;  and  though  they  vary  in  width,  they  do  not 
do  so  in  conformity  with  the  divisions  of  the  interior  —  the  nar- 
rower one  being  placed  in  the  centre  opposite  the  wider  nave, 
and  the  wider  ones  at  the  sides  opposite  the  narrow  aisles  re- 
spectively. The  gables  have  not  the  slightest  relation  to  the 
roof  contours,  and  the  composition  as  a  whole  is  as  unhappy  in 
architectural  effect  as  illogical  in  its  adjustment  to  the  building. 

Thus,  as  a  rule,  the  west  front  in  England  is  devoid  of 
Gothic  character  —  which  imperatively  demands  a  logical  adjust- 
ment of  part  to  part.  It  is,  on  the  contrary,  an  erection 
whose  parts  have  little  relation  to  the  real  structural  scheme. 
Exceptions,  however,  occur ;  and  among  these  may  be  noticed 
the  western  facade  of  Ripon  Cathedral,  though  even  here  a 
strictly  expressive  arrangement  is  not  wholly  reached.  The 
side  towers  are,  indeed,  true  terminations  of  the  aisles,  and  the 
three  internal  divisions  are  marked  externally  by  continuous, 
though  shallow,  buttresses.  The  central,  or  nave,  compartment 
is  crowned  by  a  gable  which  conforms  with  the  outline  of  the 
roof,  and  the  towers  are  carried  up  above  this  level  as  in  French 
Gothic  fagades.  A  minor  defect  of  the  scheme  is  the  placing 
of  all  three  of  the  portals  in  the  central  bay  so  that  they  open 
into  the  nave  —  the  lateral  tower  compartments  having  no  por- 
tals. Doorways  so  small  as  these  are  would,  however,  hardly 
appear  well  if  arranged  in  the  more  logical  French  manner. 
Their  grouping  together  here  is  an  effective  arrangement  for 
such  small  openings ;  and  when  the  design  is  considered  with- 
out reference  to  the  building  to  which  it  forms  the  front,  it  does 
not  appear  a  bad  one.  Two  tiers  of  lancets  occupy  the  whole 
of  this  central  compartment  between  the  portals  and  the  gable ; 


232  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

and  the  towers  are  adorned  with  shafted  arcades  in  four  stories. 
The  design,  as  a  whole,  with  exception  of  the  arrangement  of 
the  portals,  is  appropriate  and  expressive,  and  has  a  good  deal 
of  quiet  beauty. 

The  early  pointed  west  front  of  Selby  Abbey  also  has 
towers  terminating  the  aisles,  and  a  logical  arrangement  of  the 
principal  parts ;  and  that  of  St.  Albans  is  good  also,  with 
exception  of  the  level  cornices  which  crown  the  lateral  divisions 
(there  are  no  towers)  in  disregard  of  the  sloping  lines  of  the 
aisle  roofs. 

In  the  early  pointed  architecture  of  England  western  towers, 
when  they  occur,  are  less  common  and  less  imposing  than  those 
of  the  Gothic  churches  of  France.  But  the  Norman  feature  of  a 
vast  tower  over  the  crossing  of  nave  and  transept,  seldom  adopted 
by  the  French  Gothic  builders,  was  perpetuated  in  England  with 
admirable  effect.  Provision  for  such  a  tower  was  made  in  nearly 
every  church  of  importance  in  the  island.  But  in  many  cases 
this  tower  now  exists  as  a  mere  beginning  —  reaching  but  a  little 
way  above  the  roof  of  the  nave.  Most  of  those  extant,  which 
are  carried  higher,  are  of  a  comparatively  late  period,  and  in  the 
perpendicular  style,  as  at  Worcester,  Gloucester,  Canterbury, 
and  York.  I  do  not  know  of  any  remaining  completed  crossing 
tower  of  the  early  period ;  but  the  magnificent  central  tower  of 
Lincoln,  which  dates  from  about  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  retains  its  original  form  up  to  the  level  of  the  cornice.- 
It  consists  (Fig.  125)  of  three  stories  above  the  cornice  of  the 
nave.  An  octagonal  stair  turret  rises  against  each  of  its  four 
angles,  whose  sheer  ascent  gives  a  majestic  aspect  to  the  struc- 
ture. The  stories  are  finely  proportioned  in  their  relative  heights, 
and  the  middle  one,  which  is  the  first  that  rises  clear  of  the 
nave  roof,  is  admirably  designed,  as  a  base  for  the  great  belfry. 
This  middle  story  has  no  large  openings,  but  the  walls  are 
enriched  by  a  blind  arcade  of  five  arches  on  each  side,  while 
a  similar  arch  adorns  each  face  of  the  turret  at  the  same  level. 
The  story  beneath  (small  portions  of  which  only  are  exposed  to 
view  outside  of  the  roofs)  is  treated  in  a  similar,  though  not  in 
precisely  the  same,  manner.  This  lower  story,  being  taller,  has 
a  string-course  about  midway  between  its  base  and  cornice, 
which  bands  the  shafts  of  the  arcading.  The  top  story  has  two 
vast  lancets,  each  surmounted  by  a  gable  and  subdivided  by  a 


J'OIXTED    COXSTRUCriON  IN  EXGLAXD 


233 


mullion  into  two  smaller  lancets.  This  tower  is  hardly  equalled 
in  beauty  by  any  other  in  England;  and  it  is  certainly  one  of 
the  stateliest  in  Europe. 

Few,  if  any,  spires  were  constructed  in  England  during  the 
twelfth  century,  and  on  a 
large  scale  they  appear  to 
have  been  rarely  erected 
during  the  entire  early 
pointed  period.  Large 
existing  spires,  like  that  of 
Salisbury,  are,  for  the  most 
part,  not  of  earlier  date  than 
the  fourteenth  century.  On 
a  smaller  scale  a  few  spires 
remain  dating  from  the 
thirteenth  century.  Of 
these  the  spire  of  Ring- 
stead  Church,  Northants, 
erected  about  the  middle 
of  the  century,^  is  a  good 
example.  The  manage- 
ment of  the  transition  from 
the  square  plan  of  the  tower 
to  the  octagon  of  the  spire 
is,  in  such  constructions, 
very  admirable,  and  it  is, 
I  believe,  peculiar  to  Eng- 
land. Instead  of  starting 
the  octagon  directly  from 
the  square  top  of  the  tower, 
a  four-sided  pyramid  is  in- 
terposed, which  the  octagon 
intersects.  By  this  means 
no  unoccupied  spaces  occur 
at  the  angles  of  the  tower ; 
and  the  design  is  both  constructively  good  and  artistically 
agreeable. 

Before  closing  our  examination  of  the  pointed  architecture 

1  According  to  Mr.  Parker  {An  Introduction  to  the  Stiofy  0/  Gothic  Architecture, 
p.  155)  the  date  of  this  church  is  circa  1260. 


Flc.  125.  —  Lincoln. 


234  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

of  England  during  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  we 
may  notice  the  general  plan  and  its  relation  to  the  elevation, 
in  which  points  this  architecture  differs  widely  from  that  of 
France.  Besides  the  prevalence  of  the  rectangular  east  end, 
in  which  the  English  church  differs  from  the  larger  French 
churches,  the  further  difference  is  common  in  England  of 
two  transepts,  one  at  each  end  of  the  choir.  This  pecu- 
liarity, giving  the  general  plan  the  form  of  the  archiepisco- 
pal  cross,  had  its  origin  on  the  Continent,  though  it  was  not 
widely  adopted  or  long  retained  there  ;  and  hence  it  has,  by 
some  writers,  been  regarded  as  having  originated  in  England. 
That  this  is  not  the  case,  however,  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
the  great  Abbey  Church  of  Cluny,  dating  from  the  twelfth 
century,  had  this  form.  Eastward  of  the  east  transept  is  the 
retro-choir,  which  is  generally  as  long  as  the  choir  proper,  and 
beyond  this  again  is  often  a  lady  chapel.  These  parts,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  long  nave,  give  the  central  aisle  of  an  English  cathe- 
dral an  enormous  length,  the  effect  of  which  is  greatly  increased 
by  the  comparative  lowness  of  the  elevation  —  a  lowness  which 
contrasts  strikingly  with  the  soaring  proportions  of  the  French 
Gothic  churches.  The  chief  general  impression  received  from 
the  Anglo-Norman  interior  is  that  of  a  prolonged  architectural 
vista,  while  the  external  aspect  is  that  of  a  long  low  range  of 
gabled  roofs  and  buttressed  walls,  whose  outlines  are  broken  by 
the  projecting  transepts,  and  by  the  towers  of  the  west  end  and 
of  the  crossing. 

This  great  length  and  proportionate  lowness  may  have  re- 
sulted partly  from  chance,  and  partly  from  timidity,  —  from 
chance,  in  the  addition  at  successive  epochs  of  parts  that  were 
not  contemplated  in  the  original  projects,  and  from  timidity,  on 
the  part  of  builders  who  were  not  remarkable  for  constructive 
daring,  in  raising  and  supporting  wide  vaults  at  considerable 
altitudes.  But  a  predilection  for  length  was  a  peculiarity  of 
the  earlier  Norman  builders,  which  may  naturally  have  survived 
in  their  Anglo-Norman  and  English  successors.  The  Norman 
nave  of  Winchester,  for  instance,  contains  twelve  bays,  that 
of  St.  Albans  contains  thirteen,  and  that  of  Norwich  fourteen, 
while  in  France  the  nave  of  the  Cathedral  of  Paris  (one  of  the 
longest)  contains  but  ten  bays,  that  of  Chartres  contains  but 
nine,   and   that    of  Amiens   but    six.     As  to   the    comparative 


VI  POhVTED    CONSTRUCTION-  IN  ENGLAND  235 

heights,  it  may  suffice  to  say  that  the  choir  of  Lincoln  measures, 
from  the  pavement  to  the  crowns  of  the  vaults,  about  twenty- 
two  metres,  while  the  nave  of  Amiens  measures  forty-two. 
It  must,  however,  be  said  that  the  vaults  in  England  are  in  some 
cases  higher  than  those  of  Lincoln,  while  in  France  none, 
except  those  of  Beauvais,  are  higher  than  Amiens,  though  few, 
if  any,  are  (except  those  of  small  churches)  so  low  as  Lincoln. 

The  vaulted  polygonal  chapter-house  is  a  structure  peculiar 
to  England,  and  it  is  one  of  considerable  beauty.  The  plan  is 
usually  octagonal,  as  at  Salisbury  and  York ;  at  Lincoln  it  is 
ten-sided.  The  chapter-house  is  vaulted  on  a  system  of  ribs 
which  in  most  cases  spring  from  a  clustered  central  shaft  and 
from  responds  situated  in  the  angles  of  the  enclosing  walls. 
The  ribs  are  often  arranged  with  structural  propriety ;  but  the 
supports  are  not  always  adjusted  to  them  in  an  entirely  logical 
manner.  The  central  support  at  Salisbury,  for  instance,  has 
but  eight  shafts  to  carry  sixteen  ribs  which  spring  from  it. 

The  openings  of  the  chapter-house  have  often  more  Gothic 
character  than  those  of  the  church  itself.  At  Salisbury  these 
openings  occupy  the  whole  space  beneath  the  vault  and  between 
the  responds  above  the  level  of  the  low  enclosing  wall.  The 
internal  effect  of  the  chapter-house  of  this  type  is  very  pleas- 
ing, but  the  structure  presents  no  important  characteristics  that 
are  materially  different  from  those  which  we  have  already  con- 
sidered, 

A  significant  fact  concerning  the  architecture  of  the  twelfth 
and  thirteenth  centuries  in  England  is  that  of  the  almost  total 
absence  of  vaulting  in  the  smaller  village  churches.  For 
example,  the  small  church  of  St.  Mary  le  Wigford  at  Lincoln, 
Corringham  near  Gainsborough  in  Lincolnshire,  and  many  others 
(which  are  typical),  consist  of  a  nave  and  aisles  with  arcades  of 
pointed  arches,  usually  of  two  orders,  supported  on  columns 
whose  members  are  adjusted  to  the  arch  orders,  and  enclosed 
by  plain  walls  with  small  splayed  and  pointed  windows,  and 
open  timber  roofs.  These  modest  buildings  are  often  very 
charming  in  both  internal  and  external  aspect;  in  fact,  they  are 
in  many  respects  the  most  interesting  monuments  in  the  coun- 
try, but  they  are  not,  in  the  primary  and  strict  sense,  monu- 
ments of  Gothic  style. 

It  must  now,  I  think,  be  apparent  that  the  early  pointed 


236  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap,  vi 

architecture  of  England  is,  with  few  exceptions,  very  different 
in  its  nature  from  that  of  the  same  period  in  France ;  that, 
while  possessing  much  beauty  of  its  kind,  it  does  not,  like  the 
architecture  of  France,  bear  the  marks  of  a  spontaneous  struc- 
tural development;  and  that  in  constructive  principle  it  differs 
little  from  the  Norman  Romanesque,  of  which  it  is  substantially 
but  an  ornamental  modification.  I  shall,  in  the  concluding  chap- 
ter, give  further  reasons  for  supposing  it  to  be  in  the  main  really 
Norman  rather  than  English. 


CHAPTER   VII 

POINTED   CONSTRUCTION   IN   GERMANY 

Pointed  forms  in  architectural  design  did  not  appear  in 
Germany  at  so  early  a  period  as  in  England,  nor  was  their  prog- 
ress so  rapid  after  they  began  to  be  used.  Indeed,  the  pointed 
arch,  in  connection  with  structural  modifications,  had  little  effect 
here  until  the  fully  developed  Gothic  of  France  began  to  be  im- 
perfectly copied  about  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century.  A 
reason  for  this  may,  perhaps,  be  found  in  the  fact  that  Germany 
in  the  twelfth  century  possessed  a  Romanesque  architecture 
which,  especially  in  the  important  churches  along  the  Rhine, 
was  of  a  very  admirable  character,  and  was  well  suited  to  the 
needs  and  tastes  of  the  German  people.  The  Rhenish  Roman- 
esque was  apparently,  as  we  have  already  seen  (p.  40),  derived 
from  the  Romanesque  of  Northern  Italy,  which  had  been  de- 
veloped under  the  Lombard  influence  out  of  the  older  round- 
arched  styles,  and  was  thus  largely  a  German  art.  It  was 
therefore  natural  that  the  country  should  be  slow  to  yield  to 
the  influence  of  the  French  Gothic  movement,  notwithstanding 
that  this  movement  was  active  in  its  near  neighbourhood  and 
among  a  people  with  whom  it  had  close  relations.  During  the 
early  Gothic  development  in  France  the  German  art  of  building 
remained  wholly  unchanged ;  and  while  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
twelfth  century  we  find  some  signs  of  a  French  Gothic  influence, 
no  complete  or  consistent  structural  changes  were  as  yet  made. 
Even  so  important  an  edifice  as  the  Cathedral  of  Speyer,  the 
erection  of  which  was  nearly  contemporaneous  with  that  of  the 
choir  of  the  Cathedral  of  Paris,^  was  constructed  in  an  unmodi- 
fied, and  imperfectly  organic,  Romanesque  style.  The  nave  is 
vaulted  with  round-arched  quadripartite  vaults  in  square  com- 

1  The  Cathedral  of  Speyer,  as  it  now  exists,  was,  according  to  Forster  (^Monu- 
ments d'' Architecture,  etc.,  Paris,  i860),  begun  immediately  after  a  fire  which  had  in 
1 1 59  destroyed  an  earlier  edifice. 

237 


238  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

partments,  each  embracing  two  bays  of  the  side  aisles,  following 
the  arrangement  that  had  been  established  in  Lombardy,  and 
the  organic  imperfection  of  the  German  Romanesque  at  this 
period  is  shown  in  the  omission  of  groin  ribs.  The  vaults  are 
furnished,  however,  with  transverse  and  longitudinal  ribs,  and 
are  formed  on  the  domical  model.  The  piers  are  of  the  general 
Rhenish  Romanesque  type,  and  hardly  possess  as  much  likeness 
to  Gothic  piers  as  those  which  had  been  designed  a  hundred 
years  before  in  the  churches  of  Lombardy  and  Normandy.  The 
general  form  of  the  building  is  likewise  unmodified  Romanesque. 
The  clerestory  and  aisle  walls  are  unbroken  by  buttresses,  and 
the  apse  is  vaulted  with  the  primitive  semidome. 

The  vaulting  of  the  nave  of  the  Cathedral  of  Worms,  con- 
structed towards  the  close  of  the  twelfth  century  (1171-1181  T), 
is  a  little  more  advanced,  having  a  full  system  of  ribs,  all  of 
which  are  pointed.  This  vaulting  has  not,  however,  the  true 
Gothic  form  so  far  as  it  results  from  the  stilting  of  the  longitudinal 
rib.  This  rib  here  springs  from  the  level  of  the  main  impost, 
and  the  vault  thrusts  are  thus  diffused  over  a  considerable  part 
of  the  heavy  clerestory  wall. 

The  pointed  arch  occurs,  also,  in  the  vaulting  (constructed 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  twelfth  century)  of  the  nave  of  Mainz; 
and  here  the  groin  rib,  too,  appears,  but  in  other  respects  this 
vaulting,  equally  with  that  of  Worms,  exhibits  a  lack  of  Gothic 
form.  Thus,  while  in  a  few  of  the  Romanesque  churches  of  the 
twelfth  century  in  Germany  we  may  find  some  features  that 
show  a  Gothic  influence,  no  thorough  adaptation  of  Gothic 
principles  is  found,  nor  are  there  any  signs  of  an  original 
structural  activity  such  as  would  constitute  a  native  transitional 
movement. 

In  the  nave  of  the  Cathedral  of  Bamberg,  built  near  the  end 
of  the  twelfth  century,  the  pointed  arch  replaces  the  round  arch 
throughout  the  structural  system  of  the  interior  (Fig.  126),  and 
the  vaulting  has  a  full  system  of  ribs  in  both  nave  and  aisles. 
The  compartments  are  nearly  square,  and  each  bay  is  subdivided 
on  the  ground  story  so  as  to  give  smaller  square  vaults  in  the 
aisles.  The  springing  of  the  longitudinal  ribs  is  again  at  the  main 
impost,  and  the  vaults  have  the  domical  form.  The  transverse 
ribs  are  wide  and  heavy,  and  of  plain  square  section,  but  the 
diagonals  have  profiles  of  an  early  Gothic  form,  consisting  of 


VII 


POINTED    COiVSTRUCTION  /AT  GERMANY 


239 


an  almond-shaped  member  beneath  a  square  one.  The  piers 
retain  the  Romanesque  character,  and  the  vault  supports  gener- 
ally consist  of  a  pilaster,  corresponding  in  size  with  the  transverse 
rib  which  it  carries,  with  a  round  shaft  on  either  side  of  it  for  the 


Fir..  126.  —  System  of  Bamberg. 

support  of  the  diagonals,  and  a  second  square  member  for  the 
longitudinal  ribs.  In  some  of  the  piers  the  round  shafts  are 
omitted,  and  the  three  vaulting  ribs  are  awkwardly  gathered 
upon  a  simple  pilaster  of  two  orders.  The  easternmost  bay 
has  a  sexpartite  vault,  and  the  bay   next  adjoining  it  has  an 


240  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

intermediate  shaft  in  preparation  for  such  vaulting;  but  this 
shaft  carries  nothing,  the  vault  here  being  quadripartite.  There 
are  no  triforium  openings,  and  the  heavy  clerestory  wall  is 
broken  only  by  a  small  round-headed  window  in  each  bay. 
Externally  the  clerestory  has  neither  buttresses  nor  pilaster 
strips.  It  is  as  plain  as  that  of  a  primitive  timber-roofed 
basilica.  The  general  scheme  of  this  building,  though  con- 
structed at  a  time  when  the  Gothic  of  France  was  nearing  its 
full  development,  is  thoroughly  Rhenish  Romanesque. 

The  Cathedral  of  Magdeburg,  begun  in  the  first  decade  of 
the  thirteenth  century,  and  finished  in  1234,  is  one  of  the  ear- 
liest German  churches  in  which  the  Gothic  influence  is  strongly 
apparent  throughout  the  whole  interior.  The  building  is  not, 
however,  completely  Gothic  even  within,  while  externally, 
though  it  has  a  somewhat  Gothic  appearance,  it  almost  wholly 
lacks  the  characteristics  of  a  true  Gothic  structure.  The  nave 
has  oblong  quadripartite  vaulting  on  pointed  arches,  with  a  full 
set  of  ribs.  The  piers,  however,  are  arranged  for  vaulting  in 
square  compartments,  but  between  the  heavy  transverse  ribs 
which  they  carry  smaller  transverse  ribs,  springing  from  small 
shafts  that  rest  on  the  clerestory  string,  are  inserted.  The 
vaulting  shafts  are  arranged  in  compact  groups  rising  from 
the  pavement,  and  consist  of  a  large  round  shaft  against  a 
pilaster,  with  a  smaller  round  shaft  on  each  side.  The  apse  of 
this  church  is  apparently  the  first  of  those  in  which  the  general 
Gothic  form  and  proportions  occur.  It  is  said  by  Dehio^  to 
have  been  derived  from  such  French  apses  as  those  of  Chalons- 
sur-Marne  and  Montier-en-der.  But  while  it  bears  some  general 
resemblance  to  these  monuments,  it  is  singularly  unlike  them  in 
respect  to  the  Gothic  lightness  of  construction.  The  vault, 
though  divided  into  cells  and  supported  on  ribs,  retains  (as  do 
the  earliest  apsidal  vaults  in  France)  much  of  the  form  of  the 
primitive  semidome.  The  cells  have  not  the  depth  that  distin- 
guishes developed  Gothic  apsidal  vaulting.  The  piers  are  not 
developed  as  such.  They  are  merely  portions  of  heavy  walls 
pierced  with  tall  pointed  openings,  while  in  each  of  the  angles 
in  which  these  walls  meet  a  vaulting  shaft  is  set.^ 

The  outside  system  of  the  nave  has  some  Gothic  appearance, 

^  Dehio  and  Von  Bezold,  Die  Kirchliche  Bankunst  des  Abendlandes,  p.  496. 
^  Dehio  and  Von  Bezold,  Op.  cit.,  p.  495. 


VII  POINTED    CONSTRUCTION  IN  GERMANY  241 

which  results  from  an  unusually  great  height  of  the  clerestory, 
pronounced  pier  buttresses,  and  large  pointed  openings.  There 
are  no  flying  buttresses,  but  against  the  smaller  transverse  ribs 
and  their  supports  smaller  clerestory  buttresses  are  set,  which 
thus  alternate  with  the  larger  buttresses.  The  exterior  of  the 
choir  and  apse,  as  far  up  as  the  cornice  of  the  triforium  gallery, 
bears  a  strong  resemblance  to  the  French  work  of  the  second 
half  of  the  twelfth  century.  The  forms  of  the  openings,  the 
profiling  and  shafting  of  the  archivolts,  and  the  monumental 
simplicity  of  the  whole  design  are  almost  wholly  like  early 
French  work.  One  feature  occurs  here  which  would  hardly 
be  found  in  a  French  apse,  namely,  a  corbel-table  under  the 
cornice  of  the  apsidal  chapels.  But  these  are  parts  of  the 
building  in  which  the  more  distinctive  external  structural  fea- 
tures of  the  Gothic  system  would  not,  in  any  case,  be  called  into 
requisition.  It  is  in  the  buttressing  of  the  clerestory  that  we 
should  look  for  these,  and  here  the  apse  of  Magdeburg  wholly 
fails  to  show  Gothic  character.  The  apse,  like  the  nave,  is 
without  flying  buttresses,  and  not  only  so,  but  the  angles  in 
which  the  walls  of  its  sides  meet  are,  save  in  one  or  two  cases, 
without  even  so  much  as  a  pilaster  strip.  The  stability  of  the 
structure  is  maintained  by  the  heavy  wall  construction  that  we 
have  noticed  in  the  interior.^ 

The  Cathedral  of  Limburg  on  the  Lahn  (Fig.  127),  which 
was  consecrated  in  1235,  and  is  therefore  contemporaneous  with 
Magdeburg,  has  more  of  the  Gothic  structural  character,  though 
in  general  external  aspect  it  retains  much  of  the  Romanesque 
form  and  expression.  Indeed,  to  a  cursory  glance,  the  exterior 
of  Limburg  has  little  to  distinguish  it  from  a  Rhenish  Roman- 
esque building.  It  is,  in  this  respect,  much  like  the  transitional 
monuments  of  the  early  part  of  the  twelfth  century  in  France, 
in  which  the  Gothic  character  is  confined  to  the  interior.  Yet 
the  internal  system  is  in  reality  supplemented  by  flying  but- 

^  There  is,  indeed,  as  we  have  seen,  a  good  deal  of  massive  construction,  and  an 
absence  of  flying  buttresses,  in  some  of  the  transitional  Gothic  buildings  of  France;  in 
those  buildings,  however,  the  system  was  first  developing,  the  new  principles  were  not 
fully  reached,  and  old  elements  were  not  yet  wholly  thrown  off.  But  the  German 
architects  of  the  thirteenth  century  were  not,  like  the  Frenchmen  of  a  hundred  years 
before,  feeling  their  way  in  an  unexplored  path.  The  Gothic  system  had  been  fully 
worked  out  over  the  French  border,  and  the  Germans  were  now  imitating  it  without 
a  full  understanding  of  its  principles. 
R 


242 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


tresses  of  effective  form,  though  on  account  of  the  shortness 
of  the  nave  only  one  of  these  occurs  on  each  side. 

The  vaulting  is  sexpartite  on  an  alternate  system  of  sup- 
ports, and  the  whole  interior  design  bears  a  close  resemblance 


Fl<;.  127. —  System  of  Limburg. 

to  that  of  the  nave  of  the  Cathedral  of  Noyon,  which  justifies 
the  inference  that  its  architect  was  directly  influenced  by  that 
monument. 1     All  of  the  vault  ribs  are  pointed,  the  vaults  are 

^  Dehio,  Op.  cit.,  pp.  496,  497,  supposes  it  to  be  derived  from  Laon  and  not  from 
Noyon.     The  likeness  is,  however,  much  closer  to  Noyon.     The  main  piers,  having 


VII  POINTED    CONSTRUCTION  IN  GERMANY  243 

very  domical,  and  the  intermediate  transverse  rib  is  stilted  to 
bring  its  crown  up  to  the  intersection  of  the  diagonals.  The 
longitudinal  ribs  also  are  stilted  and  thus  the  vaults  have  the 
true  Gothic  form.  The  part  of  the  structural  system  which 
conforms  least  wdth  the  Gothic  character  is  the  intermediate 
pier.  On  the  ground  story  this  is  a  plain  rectangular  member 
of  considerable  bulk,  with  no  shafts  or  other  members  incorpo- 
rated v/ith  it,  while  a  single  vaulting  shaft  rises  from  the  trifo- 
rium  string  and  is  crowned  with  a  capital  at  the  level  of  the 
main  imposts.  On  this  capital  are  set  a  pilaster  and  three 
small  shafts  which  stilt  the  intermediate  transverse  rib  and  the 
longitudinal  ribs.  Like  Noyon,  this  church  has  a  vaulted  tri- 
forium  gallery,  and  a  second  triforium  consisting  of  an  open 
shafted  arcade.  The  great  archivolts  are  of  a  single  order  of 
square  section,  without  mouldings  and  of  great  thicicness.  All 
of  the  structural  arches,  and  internal  arcades,  are  pointed  ;  but 
the  external  openings  are  in  some  cases  round  arched. 

A  persistence  of  the  Romanesque  methods  of  construction 
is  shown  in  the  vaulting  of  the  aisles  and  the  triforium  gallery, 
where  no  groin  ribs  occur.  The  nave  has  but  two  sexpartite 
bays,  and  hence  the  chief  thrusts  of  the  vaulting  are  gathered 
against  the  three  main  piers.  In  the  easternmost  and  western- 
most of  these  piers  the  thrusts  are  met  by  the  walls  of  the 
transept  and  the  towers  of  the  west  end,  respectively.  In  the 
middle  pier  they  are  met  by  the  flying  buttress  already  men- 
tioned, which  consists  of  two  superimposed  arches  —  one  be- 
neath the  aisle  roof  and  the  other  carried  over  it  in  true  Gothic 
fashion.  The  intermediate  piers  of  the  system  have  no  flying 
buttresses  visible  on  the  exterior. 

The  choir  and  apse  are  both  embraced  under  a  single  sex- 
partite  vault.  This  gives  but  three  cells  of  vaulting,  and  three 
unusually  wide  bays,  to  the  apse  —  which  retains  the  semicircular 
plan  of  the  primitive  apses.  The  piers  and  archivolts  are  sub- 
stantially like  those  of  the  nave,  and  each  pier  has  a  vaulting 
shaft  from  the  pavement,  carrying  a  group  of  small  shafts  which 

grouped  shafts  which  rise  from  the  pavement,  reproduce  those  of  Xoyon  almost 
exactly.  The  alternate  principle  is  thus,  as  in  Xoyon,  carried  out  in  a  pronounced 
form  from  the  ground  story  upwards.  In  Laon  this  is  not  the  case.  There  the 
ground-story  piers  are  uniform  round  columns,  and  even  above  the  ground  story  the 
alternation  of  main  supports  and  intermediate  supports  is  less  clearly  marked. 


244  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

stilt  the  vault  ribs,  as  in  the  intermediate  system  of  the  nave. 
The  apse  is  heavily  walled,  and  has  small  Romanesque  open- 
ings. In  the  vaulting  of  the  aisle  and  triforium  gallery  of  the 
choir  and  apse  groin  ribs  occur,  and  the  thrusts  are  met  by  fly- 
ing buttresses  like  those  of  the  main  piers  of  the  nave.  Lim- 
burg  has  thus  a  good  deal  of  transitional  Gothic  character  in  its 
main  structural  parts,  while  its  ponderous  walls,  small  openings, 
and  general  external  form  are  far  from  Gothic.  It  is  remark- 
able that  when  the  German  builders  began  to  feel  the  French 
influence,  they  should  have  followed  so  largely  the  undeveloped, 
rather  than  the  developed,  style  of  France  which  was  before 
them.  With  Amiens  Cathedral  in  progress  while  Limburg  was 
building,  it  appears  strange  that  the  primitive  Gothic  elements 
alone  should  appear  in  it. 

The  decagon  of  St.  Gereon  of  Cologne,  completed  in  1227, 
has  features  which  more  strongly  resemble  Gothic,  though  the 
structure  is  not  more  Gothic  in  reality.  The  vault  has  some- 
what the  form  of  a  French  apsidal  vault,  or  rather  of  two  such 
vaults  joined  together.^  It  is,  however  (like  that  of  the  apse  of 
Magdeburg),  constructed  on  the  primitive  model  of  the  vaults  of 
the  earliest  Gothic  apses  in  which  the  form  of  the  semidome  is 
still  largely  retained.  The  vault  cells  of  St.  Gereon  are  shallow 
and  their  crowns  are  steep  like  the  gores  of  a  melon;  and  they 
are  supported  on  ribs  which  rest  on  shafts  rising  from  the  pave- 
ment. The  form  and  construction  of  this  edifice  are  peculiar. 
The  ground  story  has  a  solid  wall  of  great  thickness  with  a  deep 
niche,  opening  out  of  the  nave,  in  each  bay.  Over  this  is  a 
high  triforium  gallery,  and  over  the  gallery  a  low  clerestory  sur- 
mounted by  a  second  clerestory  of  considerable  height.  The 
forms  of  the  openings  of  the  triforium,  and  of  the  upper  clere- 
story, are  like  those  of  early  French  work,  while  the  lower 
clerestory  has  openings  of  a  foliated  German  type.  The  archi- 
volts  of  the  lower  clerestory  are  carried  on  shafts  rising  from 
the  pavement,  which  are  grouped  with  the  shafts  of  the  vaulting, 
producing  the  effect  of  a  Gothic  compound  pier.  Externally  a 
pilaster  strip  at  each  angle  of  the  polygon  follows  the  line  of 
the  internal  support,  and  a  flying  buttress  springs  over  the  aisle  ^ 

^  The  decagon  of  St.  Gereon  is  oval  in  plan,  as  two  Gothic  apsidal  vaults  would 
not  be,  but  this  is  immaterial. 

2  Though  there  is  no  aisle  on  the  ground  story,  the  triforium  forms  an  aisle  in  the 
second  story. 


VII  rO/NTED    CONSTRUCTION  IN  GERMANY  245 

roof,  meeting  the  thrusts  of  the  vaults  at  their  springing.  The 
flying  buttresses  of  Limburg  are  low  and  inconspicuous,  but 
effective  in  adjustment.  Those  of  St.  Gereon  are  unusually  high 
and  yet  fail  to  reach  a  level  at  which  they  would  be  effective  in 
a  building  constructed  on  Gothic  principles.  They  are  essen- 
tially weak  in  appearance,  and  must  be  so  in  reality.  The 
vault  thrusts  are,  however,  sufficiently  met  by  the  thickness  of 
the  walls,  and  by  the  carrying  up  of  these  walls  to  a  height 
equal  to  that  of  the  crown  of  the  vault,  thus  giving  weight 
above  the  springing  enough  to  secure  stability. 

The  Liebfrauenkirche  of  Trier  (begun  in  1227)  is  regarded 
by  German  authors  as  the  first  purely  Gothic  church  in  Germany.^ 
It  has  a  singular  plan,  consisting  of  a  nave  and  transept  of  equal 
length  intersecting  each  other  in  the  middle,  and  thus  forming  a 
Greek  cross.  The  eastern  arm  of  the  nave  is  lengthened  by  a 
choir  of  one  bay  with  an  apse.  In  each  of  the  reentrant  angles 
of  the  cross  is  an  aisle  of  one  bay  with  a  chapel  opening  out  of 
each  of  its  outermost  sides.  These  aisles  and  chapels  so  fill 
out  the  angles  as  to  make  the  general  form  of  the  plan  circular. 
This  plan  is  an  amplification  of  that  of  the  east  end  of  the 
French  Church  of  St.  Yved  of  Braisne,  where  the  aisles  and 
chapels  are  arranged  in  precisely  the  same  manner.  The  Ger- 
man architect  in  copying  St.  Yved  merely  repeated  on  the  west 
side  of  the  transept  the  form  of  the  eastern  part,  thus  making  the 
plan  symmetrical.  The  vaulting  of  the  apse  is  in  five  cells  of 
perfectly  Gothic  character.  This  apse  has  no  aisles,  but  it  is 
nevertheless  divided  in  elevation  into  two  stories,  in  conformity 
with  the  nave,  which  has  aisles,  but  no  developed  triforium, 
the  clerestory  order  being  brought  down  to  the  string  just  over 
the  great  arcade  which  would  in  most  cases  be  that  of  the  tri- 
forium. The  triforium  space  is  occupied  by  the  clerestory  shaft- 
ing, the  spaces  between  this  shafting  being  walled  up  so  that 
the  actual  clerestory  is  confined  to  the  traceried  arch  above  the 
shafts.  The  nave  is  thus  made  to  consist  practically  of  only 
two  stories,  with  which  those  of  the  apse  correspond.  The 
architectural  harmony  of  the  interior  thus  secured  justifies  in 
the  apse  what  is  really  an  illogical  division  of  a  structure  having 
no  aisle.     The  apse  of  Braisne  is  likewise  without  an  aisle,  and 

1  Cf.  Dehio  and  Von  Bezoltl,  Op.  cit.,  p.  495;  Forster,  Op.  cit.,  vol.  i.  p.  34;  and 
Adamy,  Architektonik  Jes  Mittelalters,  p.  241. 


246 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


it  also  is  divided  in  elevation  into  stories  corresponding  to  those 
of  the  nave.  But  the  nave  in  this  case,  having  an  aisle,  has  also 
the  usual  triforium,  which,  like  the  ground  story  and  clerestory, 
is  carried  around  the  aisleless  apse.  The  ground  story  of  the  Lieb- 
frauenkirche  is  of  great  proportional  height,  and  it  is  probably 
because  of  this  that  the  usual  triforium  arcade  is  omitted.  The 
absence  of  the  aisle  in  the  apse  makes  the  walls  between  the 
clerestory  shafting  unnecessary,  and  the  open  character  of  the 

whole  design  is  thoroughly  Gothic. 
All  of  the  vaulting  capitals  are 
placed  at  the  same  level,  and  while 
the  longitudinal  rib  does  not  appear 
to  spring  at  precisely  this  level, 
there  is  not  enough  stilting  to  have 
any  appreciable  effect  on  the  form 
of  the  vaulting  conoid.  In  this 
respect  the  vaulting  of  Trier  differs 
materially  from  that  of  Braisne, 
where  the  twisted  surfaces  which 
are  essential  to  Gothic  clerestory 
vaults  are  conspicuously  devel- 
oped. The  Liebfrauenkirche  fol- 
lows Braisne  in  the  use  of  a  single 
round  column  on  the  ground  story 
between  the  grouped  piers  of  the 
choir  and  transept  respectively. 
The  capital  of  this  pier  is  unlike 
anything  French  of  the  best  period. 
It  is  low,  with  a  round  abacus,  and 
does  not  prepare  the  column  to 
carry  its  load  in  a  manner  agreeable 
to  the  eye.  In  fact,  only  a  part 
of  the  load  is  carried  by  the 
capital.  The  three  vaulting  shafts  are  stopped  on  an  ill- 
designed  corbel  at  some  distance  above,  while  a  single  short 
shaft,  resting  on  the  abacus,  is  interposed  (Fig.  128).  It  is 
true  that  in  some  instances  vaulting  shafts  are  carried  on  corbels 
in  the  French  churches.  But  I  believe  these  are  always  shafts 
in  heavy  piers,  like  those  of  the  crossing,  where  space  is  needed 
on  the  ground  story.     This  is  the  case  in  the  crossing  piers  of 


128.  —  Liebfrauenkirclie,  Trier. 


POINTED    COXSTRi'LTION  IX  GERMAXV 


247 


Braisne.  Such  an  adjustment  is  rare,  however,  even  in  such 
piers,  and  nothing  Hke  the  stopping  of  a  group  of  shafts  above 
a  capital  will  be  found  in  French  Gothic  architecture.  In  the 
piers  of  Braisne  which  correspond  with  those  of  Trier  in  which 
this  awkw^ard  arrangement  occurs,  the  deep  and  well-formed 
capitals  of  the  ground-story  columns  are  corbelled  out  so  as  to 
provide  ample  space  on  their  abaci  for  the  stately  shafts  which 
rise  from  them  (Fig.  129). 

In  the  upper  parts  of  the  exterior 
the  Romanesque  characteristics  per- 
sist. The  clerestory  wall  has  no 
buttresses  of  any  kind,  and  the 
upper  story  of  the  lantern  over  the 
crossing  is  equally  w^anting  in  Gothic 
features.  The  apse  is  well  buttressed 
in  Gothic  form,  and  the  chapels  ex- 
ternally closely  resemble  those  of 
the  Cathedral  of  Reims.  Thus  while 
the  Liebfrauenkirche  is  quite  Gothic 
in  some  parts,  it  is,  on  the  whole, 
very  imperfectly  so. 

A  curious  type  of  pointed  design 
of  this  epoch  in  Germany,  which 
again  shows  the  persistence  of  Ro- 
manesque principles  of  construction, 
is  that  of  the  east  end  of  the  Cister- 
cian Church  of  Heisterbach  (1202- 
1233.').  This  monument  is  in  ruin, 
but  enough  remains  to  show  its  whole 
system.  It  bears  a  singular  resem- 
blance to  Gothic  design  in  its  pro- 
portions and  general  form,  without 
having  any  Gothic  structural  charac- 
ter whatever.  The  vault  of  the  apse^  is  a  pointed  semidome  with 
a  semblance  of  Gothic  form  resulting  from  a  division  into  shallow 
cells  with  filleted  arrises,  but  no  ribs.  This  semidome  rests  on 
stilted  round  arches  supported  on  free-standing  shafts  which 
rest  on  the  cornice  of  the  ground-story  arcade,  and  on  the  en- 


FiG.  129.  —  Braisne. 


'  Dehio  and  Von  Bezukl,  Op.  cit.,  Plate  200,  Fig.  i. 


248  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap 

closing  wall.  The  ground-story  arcade  itself  has  pointed  arches 
on  shafts  which  are  supported  on  a  podium.  The  apse  is  thus 
a  pretty  high  one,  and  it  is  framed  in  by  a  group  of  tall  upright 
supports  on  each  side  carrying  a  pointed  arch  of  two  square 
orders.  It  has  an  apsidal  aisle,  and  a  soli^  wall  of  vast  thick- 
ness, with  niches  like  those  of  the  oval  of  St.  Gereon  of  Cologne, 
encloses  the  lower  part  of  the  aisle — while  above  this  is  a  thinner 
wall  pierced  with  a  row  of  small  round-arched  openings,  forming 
what  may  be  called  an  aisle  clerestory,  since  it  rises  above  the 
roof  which  covers  the  niched  wall  below.  Just  within  the  apsi- 
dal podium  is  set  a  row  of  supports  consisting  of  two  superim- 
posed columns,  one  behind  each  of  the  shafts  of  the  apsidal 
arcade,  with  which  they  are  coupled  by  diminutive  arches,  over 
which  the  inner  cells  of  the  groined  vaults  that  cover  the  aisle 
are  prolonged  to  the  arcade.  These  shafts  and  their  arches 
carry  the  upper  enclosing  wall  of  the  apse.  The  system  is 
ingeniously  contrived  for  strength,  but  it  is  the  strength  of 
inertia,  like  that  of  ancient  Roman  works. 

Externally  the  lower  wall  has  an  unbroken  surface,  while 
that  of  the  clerestory  has  buttresses.  The  thrusts  of  the  upper 
clerestory  vaulting  are  met  by  solid  buttresses  of  triangular 
shape  built  over  the  transverse  arches  of  the  aisle. 

The  nave  of  St.  Kunibert  of  Cologne  has  very  domical  sex- 
partite  vaulting  on  a  full  system  of  ribs.  Here  the  transverse 
ribs  only  are  pointed,  while  the  longitudinal  ribs  are  of  an  up- 
right elliptical  form  without  stilting.  The  main  piers  are  like 
those  of  Bamberg,  and  the  intermediate  transverse  ribs  are  sup- 
ported by  small  shafts  rising  from  the  triforium  string.  All  the 
archivolts  and  external  openings  are  round  arched,  and  the  apse 
has  a  primitive  smooth-faced  semidome  carried  on  pointed 
arches  supported  by  coupled  shafts.  A  narrow  triforium  gal- 
lery, in  the  thickness  of  the  walls,  encircles  the  apse,  with  a 
narrow  aisle,  having  round  archivolts,  on  the  ground  story. 
Both  triforium  and  aisle  have  small  barrel  vaults  with  radial 
axes  supported  on  transverse  arches,  and  thus  acting  as 
abutments. 

In  the  Church  of  St.  Elizabeth  of  Marburg  we  have  an  apse 
which  closely  resembles  that  of  the  Liebfrauenkirche  of  Trier. 
Its  vaulting  and  vaulting  system  are  equally  Gothic  in  charac- 
ter, and,  in  the  descent  to  the  pavement  of  the  shafts  of  the 


POINTED   CONSTRUCTION  IN  GERMANY 


249 


clerestory  vaulting  arches,  it  is  even  more  like  the  best  Gothic 
design  in  France.  As  in  Trier,  the  apse  of  Marburg  is  divided 
into  two  stories,  though  it  has  no  aisles  to  call  for  such  division ; 
and  since  the  nave,  also,  is  without  division  into  stories  this 
arrangement  is  without  justification  on  the  score  of  architectural 
harmony.  The  nave  and  aisles  of  St.  Elizabeth  are  of  equal 
height,  a  mode  of  construction  peculiar  to  the  later  pointed 
architecture  of  Germany.     Other  churches  of  this  form  are  the 


Fig.  130.—  St.  Elizabeth,  Marburg. 


Kreuzkirche  at  Breslau,  St.  Sebald  at  Nuremberg,  and  St.  Mary 
at  Miihlhausen.  This  peculiar  form  gives  an  ill-proportioned 
section  (Fig.  130)  such  as  could  hardly  be  found  in  the  true 
Gothic  region  of  France.  The  Church  of  St.  Nazaire  of  Car- 
cassonne has,  however,  aisles  of  equal  height  with  the  nave  ;  but 
in  general  in  France,  in  the  comparatively  rare  instances  where 
the  aisles  are  carried  up  so  high  as  to  prevent  a  clerestory,  they 
are  enough  lower  than  the  nave  to  secure  an  agreeable  propor- 
tional relationship  of  the  parts,  as  in  the  Cathedral  of  Poitiers 
(Fig.  131  y     But  while  the  Church  of  St.  Elizabeth  of  Marburg 

1  This  figure  is  copied  from  Viollet-le-Duc.     In  a  few  exceptional  instances  in  the 


2SO 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


thus  consists  of  but  one  story  throughout,  its  enclosing  system 
is,  like  that  of  the  apse,  divided  into  two  stories,  which  is  a 
needless  violation  of  expressional  integrity. 

The  most  complete  carrying  out  of  the  Gothic  structural 
system  which  occurs  at  this  epoch  in  Germany  is  found  in 
the  nave  of  the  church  of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul  at  Neuweiler. 
This  nave  has  oblong  quadripartite  vaulting  with  stilted  longi- 
tudinal ribs,  well-adjusted  pier  supports,  and  effective  flying 
buttresses  of  early  Gothic  form. 


Fig.  131. —  Poitiers. 

Other  German  churches  of  the  early  part  of  the  thirteenth 
century  —  Bacharach,  Bonn,  Basle,  the  nave  of  St.  Sebald  of 
Nuremberg,  Gelnhausen,  and  others,  have  many  Gothic  features 
"which  often  closely  resemble  the  best  French  types,  but  in  few 
of  them  are  the  Gothic  structural  system  fully  carried  out  and 
the    Romanesque   elements  wholly  thrown  off.      These  monu- 

Ile-de-France  something  similar  to  this  arrangement  occurs,  on  a  small  scale  —  as 
in  the  village  churches  of  Vernouillet  and  FeucheroUes  (Seine-et-Oise) — figured  in 
M.  de  Baudot's  Eglises  de  Bonrgs  et  Villages.     Paris,  1867. 


VII  POTNTED   CONSTRUCTIOiV  IN  GERM  A  IVY  251 

ments  show  that  Germany  yielded  to  the  Gothic  influence  very 
slowly  and  imperfectly  —  in  most  cases  doing  little  more  than 
to  engraft  some  Gothic  features  upon  architectural  designs  of 
essentially  Romanesque  character. 

Even  after  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  though  a 
fuller  Gothic  character  and  expression  then  began  to  prevail, 
most  German  pointed  churches  still  remained  very  imperfectly 
Gothic.  The  nave  of  the  Cathedral  of  Freiburg,  completed 
in  1270,  may  be  taken  as  an  example.  While  the  soaring 
proportions  of  this  nave  are  very  fine,  and  the  structural 
features,  including  a  majestic  system  of  vaulting  shafts,  have 
a  general  Gothic  aspect,  the  vaulting  conoids  are  not  nar- 
rowed against  the  pier  in  true  Gothic  fashion,  the  triforium 
space  has  an  unbroken  wall,  and  even  the  clerestory  is  heavily 
walled  in.  Externally  this  clerestory  wall  is  unbroken  by  pier 
buttresses,  and  although  elaborately  wrought  flying  buttresses 
form  a  part  of  the  system,  they  each  consist  of  a  single  arch, 
which,  in  the  absence  of  a  strong  pier  buttress,  would  not 
effectively  resist  the  vault  thrusts  were  it  not  for  the  strong 
clerestory  wall.  The  true  Gothic  flying  buttress  of  the  devel- 
oped type  consists,  as  we  have  seen  (p.  1 50),  of  two  superim- 
posed arches,  which  together  effect  a  perfect  counterthrust  to  the 
vaults,  the  lateral  pressures  of  which  are  not  confined  to  a  single 
point,  but  extend  over  a  considerable  distance  up  and  down  the 
pier.  A  glance  at  Fig.  76,  p.  151,  will  make  clear  the  difference 
between  the  perfectly  Gothic  buttress  system,  as  exhibited  in  the 
nave  of  Amiens,  and  the  imperfect  buttressing  of  Freiburg.  It 
is  true,  indeed,  that  in  the  early  Gothic  of  France  the  flying  but- 
tress usually  consists  of  a  single  arch,^  but  notwithstanding  that 
in  the  early  Gothic  buildings  where  single  flying  buttresses 
occur  a  considerable  amount  of  solid  wall  strengthens  the 
clerestory,  yet  the  French  builders  usually  took  care  to  reen- 
force  the  piers  against  the  vault  thrusts  by  well-developed 
pier  buttresses  in  addition  to  the  flying  buttresses.  The  func- 
tional members  of  the  system  are  all  necessary  to  the  full  de- 
velopment of  the  Gothic  character  of  a  building,  and  where 
any  of  them  are  wanting  the  structure  cannot,  of  course,  be 
completely  Gothic.    The  imperfectly  Gothic  character  of  transi- 

1  See  above,  p.  144. 


252  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

tional  monuments  is  a  natural  condition  of  early  progress ;  but 
a  similar  character  in  those  of  an  advanced  period  indicates 
either  misunderstanding  of  Gothic  principles  or  a  preference 
for  those  of  the  Romanesque.  Whichever  it  be,  such  buildings 
cannot  be  classed  with  those  of  a  true  Gothic  type. 

Strasburg  Cathedral,  begun  in  1277,  has  a  different  charac- 
ter. The  interior  of  the  nave  of  Strasburg  is  truly  Gothic  in 
its  structural  form.  The  longitudinal  arches  are  much  stilted, 
giving  the  vaults  an  effective  concentration  of  thrusts  against 
the  piers,  and  the  vaulting  shafts  are  functionally  adjusted  from 
the  pavement.  The  clerestory  opening  fills  the  whole  space 
between  the  piers,  and  the  triforium  has  an  open  gallery.  The 
flying  buttress  still  consists  of  a  single  arch ;  but  a  shafted  pier 
buttress  reenforces  the  pier  at  the  springing  of  the  vaults,  and 
the  whole  design  has  a  great  deal  of  French  character. 

But  the  most  conspicuous,  and  the  most  thoroughly  Gothic, 
pointed  monument  of  the  thirteenth  century  in  Germany  is  the 
vast  choir  and  east  end  of  the  Cathedral  of  Cologne.  In 
Cologne  the  Gothic  structural  system  is  completely  and  mag- 
nificently carried  out,  and  no  elements  of  Romanesque  are 
retained.  The  choir  alone  dates  from  the  Middle  Ages  — 
having  been  begun  in  the  year  1248  and  consecrated  in  1322. 
The  great  French  models,  Amiens  and  Beauvais,  which  directly 
prompted  the  erection  of  this  building,  were  closely  followed 
in  the  structural  forms  and  general  proportions.  As  in  the 
purest  French  Gothic,  the  vaults  of  Cologne  have  only  the 
functional  ribs,  the  twisted  and  domical  surfaces  are  distinctly 
developed,^  and  the  principal  upright  supports  are  compactly 
grouped  and  continuous  from  the  pavement.  The  ground-story 
archivolts  reach  high,  leaving  the  smallest  possible  spaces  of 
wall  over  them,  while  from  the  level  of  the  triforium-string  up- 
ward to  the  vaulting  no  wall  whatever  exists.  In  this  the  choir 
of  Cologne  follows  that  of  Beauvais  rather  than  that  of  Amiens. 
In  Beauvais  (as  we  have  already  seen,  p.  142)  the  Gothic  system 
received  an  exaggerated  development.  This  is  shown  not  only 
in  the  enormous  scale  of  the  structure,  but  also  in  the  extreme 
length  to  which  the  multiplication  and  enlargement  of  the  open- 

1  Mr.  Fergusson,  History  of  Architecture  in  all  Countries,  vol.  ii.  p.  62,  speaking 
of  Cologne  Cathedral,  says:  "We  find  it  with  all  the  defects  of  French  vaulting  —  the 
ribs  are  few  and  weak,  the  ridge  undulating,  the  surfaces  twisted,  etc." 


VII  POINTED   CONSTRUCTION  IN  GERMANY  253 

ings  were  carried.  In  the  choir  of  Amiens  one  step  in  the  di- 
rection of  over-development  was  taken  in  the  omission  of  the 
enclosing  wall,  so  that  the  triforium  could  be  lighted  like 
the  clerestory ;  but  the  wall  spandrels  over  the  arches  of  the 
triforium  were  not  removed.  In  the  triforium  of  the  apse  of 
Beauvais  these  spandrels  are  so  diminished  that  hardly  any 
wall  remains,  and  in  the  straight  sides  of  the  choir  all  wall  sur- 
faces disappear  from  the  triforium  —  their  place  being  taken 
by  open  tracery.  The  last  condition  was  reproduced  in  a  uni- 
form manner  throughout  the  triforium  of  Cologne.  This  vast 
interior  thus  has  a  more  complete  effect  of  a  cage  a  jour  than  is 
to  be  found  in  any  monument  of  the  best  period  in  France.  But 
it  is  an  effect  of  doubtful  value,  since  to  obtain  it  the  aisle  roof 
has  to  be  covered  in  a  manner  that  is  not  favourable  for  the  ready 
discharge  of  rain  and  snow.  The  best  way  to  cover  the  vault- 
ing of  the  aisle  is  by  a  lean-to  roof,  as  in  the  nave  of  Amiens, 
and  this  necessarily  encloses  and  darkens  the  triforium.  The 
choir  of  Cologne  is,  however,  structurally  a  magnificent  Gothic 
design ;  but  it  is  in  no  sense  a  German  product.  It  is  wholly 
an  importation  from  France.  In  other  respects  it  differs 
widely  from  the  pure  Gothic.  Its  mouldings  and  ornamental 
carving  are  in  thoroughly  German  taste,  and  have  nothing  of 
the  character  of  French  work. 

Hardly  any  pointed  buildings  in  Germany  show  any  materi- 
ally different  characteristics  from  those  of  the  monuments 
already  considered.  There  is  no  evidence  in  this  architecture 
of  any  native  Gothic  development  —  and,  indeed,  the  fact  that 
the  pointed  architecture  of  Germany  was  directly  derived  from 
that  of  France  is  now  generally  admitted  by  competent  German 
writers.  But  it  is  not  yet  seen  that  the  borrowed  forms  were 
seldom  so  used  as  to  produce  what  may  be  correctly  called  a 
Gothic  result.  An  instance,  like  that  of  Cologne,  where  a 
structural  system  radically  different  from  the  native  one  is  fully 
carried  out  is  exceptional,  and  in  fact  unique.  As  time  went  on, 
the  German  architects  introduced  many  meaningless  structural 
modifications  and  details  which  gave  a  more  distinctly  German 
impress  to  pointed  buildings  without  rendering  them  more 
truly  Gothic  in  character.  Vaults  were  needlessly  broken  up 
into  a  variety  of  curious  forms  by  ingeniously  contrived  arrange- 
ments of  multiplied  ribs ;  studied  complexities  of  form  were  in- 


254  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

troduced  in  traceries,  profilings,  and  even  in  more  structural 
parts  —  until  at  length  Germany  had  a  pointed  architecture 
which  was  as  peculiar  to  itself  as  was  the  perpendicular  style 
to  England.  But  this  architecture,  equally  with  that  of  the 
English  perpendicular  style,  is  far  removed  in  character  and 
merit  from  the  pure,  refined,  and  monumental  Gothic  art  of 
France. 

Western  facades,  east  ends,  transept  ends,  and  towers  and 
spires  in  Germany  call  for  no  extended  remarks.  Like  the 
features  already  considered,  they  either  retain  much  of  the 
Romanesque  character,  or  are,  for  the  most  part,  made  up  of 
elements  borrowed  from  the  later  Gothic  of  France  variously 
modified  by  the  German  taste. 

The  west  fa9ade  exhibits  little  change  until  after  the  middle 
of  the  thirteenth  century.  That  of  Limburg,  for  instance,  is 
thoroughly  Romanesque  in  general  form  and  expression.  Its 
square  towers,  divided  into  five  stories  by  strongly  marked  hori- 
zontal lines,  rise  vertically  to  the  belfry  cornices.  Each  story 
has  broad  and  shallow  pilaster  strips  on  its  angles,  with  a 
narrower  one  on  each  face ;  and  these  are  connected  alter- 
nately by  corbel-tables  and  blind  shafted  arches.  In  the  open- 
ings, which  are  small,  the  pointed  arch  for  the  most  part 
prevails,  but  the  round  arch  also  appears  in  places,  as  in  the 
transitional  architecture  of  the  Ile-de-France  of  a  hundred  years 
before.  The  central  bay  has  a  splayed  and  pointed  portal  of 
several  shafted  orders  of  considerable  magnitude  —  which  does 
not,  however,  fill  the  whole  space  between  the  towers.  A 
pointed  blind  arcade  of  three  arches  occupies  the  story  above, 
while  a  large  rose  window,  with  small  circular  piercings,  nearly 
fills  the  square  of  the  clerestory  compartment.  There  is  thus 
very  little  departure  from  the  general  Romanesque  scheme  in 
this  facade. 

The  facade  of  the  Lorenzkirche  of  Nuremberg  dating 
probably  from  the  second  half  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
exhibits  a  strange  combination  of  Romanesque  and  Gothic 
features.  The  towers  are,  like  those  of  Limburg,  divided  into 
stories  by  strongly  marked  string-courses.  They  are  very  tall, 
and  their  walls  rise  vertically  to  the  main  cornices.  Shallow 
pilaster  strips  strengthen  the  angles  of  the  uppermost  three 
stories,  while  against  the  remaining  stories  below  strong  Gothic 


vir  POINTED    CONSTRUCTION  IN  GERMANY  255 

buttresses  with  set-offs  are  placed.  All  of  the  string-courses 
except  the  lowest  two  have  corbel-tables  with  pointed  arches. 
A  single  pointed  opening  breaks  the  face  of  each  story  below 
that  of  the  belfry,  except  in  the  second  story  of  the  north  tower, 
which  has  a  depressed  round-arched  opening.  The  belfry  has 
a  large  rectangular  opening  with  six  mullions,  whose  intervals 
are  spanned  by  small  pointed  arches  corresponding  to  those  of 
the  corbel-tables  in  the  stories  beneath.  The  belfries  are  sur- 
mounted with  spires  to  be  presently  noticed.  The  central  bay 
has  a  large  pointed  and  splayed  portal  of  unusual  proportional 
height,  but  still  a  considerable  space  of  wall  remains  on  either 
side  of  it.  Over  this  is  a  vast  circle,  filled  with  elaborate 
tracery  and  extending  across  the  whole  width  of  the  bay,  which, 
on  first  sight,  appears  like  an  opening.  In  reality,  however, 
the  opening  is  bounded  by  an  inner  circle  of  not  more  than 
half  the  diameter  of  the  larger  one  —  the  tracery  between  the 
two  being  wrought  upon  the  solid  wall.  A  richly  ornamental 
gable  of  open  stonework  crowns  this  central  bay.  The  whole 
composition  affords  further  evidence  of  the  slight  hold  which 
Gothic  principles  had  on  the  minds  of  German  architects  even 
at  this  late  period.  The  towers,  in  their  structural  forms  and 
leading  lines,  are  like  those  of  the  Lombard  and  Rhenish 
Romanesque,  and  they  are  carried  to  a  proportional  altitude 
which  exceeds  that  of  Gothic  towers. 

In  the  Church  of  St.  Elizabeth  of  Marburg  the  west  front, 
which  also  dates  from  the  second  half  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
has  a  distinctly  Gothic  form  throughout.  The  vertical  divisions 
are  logically  related  to  those  of  the  interior,  and  the  towers 
are  strengthened  by  vigorous  buttresses  with  set-offs  extending 
to  the  full  height,  and  giving  pronounced  upright  lines  and  a 
slightly  pyramidal  outline.  The  central  portal  now  fills  the 
whole  width  of  the  middle  bay,  and  the  very  high  belfry  stories 
each  have  a  tall  lancet  opening  in  each  face.  The  total  compo- 
sition is  simple  and  severe,  and  in  its  larger  features  it  closely 
resembles  the  French  Gothic. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century  the  west  front 
in  Germany  began  to  receive  the  more  elaborate  and  peculiar 
treatment  which  is  most  characteristic  of  the  pointed  design 
of  the  country.  In  this  later  German  art  the  facade  is  not 
always  so  logically  composed  as  it  is  in  the  art  of  the  earlier 


256  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

time.  The  west  front  of  the  Cathedral  of  Strasburg,  for  instance, 
is  divided  into  stories  which  have  no  correspondence  with  those- 
of  the  interior.  The  ground  story  embraces  both  the  ground 
story  and  the  triforium  of  the  nave,  the  great  rose  opening  of 
the  second  story  reaches  above  the  vaulting,  while  the  top  story 
corresponds  to  nothing  whatever  in  the  building,  being  completely 
above  the  apex  of  the  timber  roof  over  the  nave.^  This  fagade 
dates  from  a  period  when  the  French  Gothic  was  already  in  a 
state  of  decadence,  and  features  derived  from  the  flamboyant 
style  of  France,  but  treated  in  a  peculiarly  German  manner,  are 
freely  used  in  it.  The  acute  open  gables  over  the  portals,  the 
free-standing  muUions  and  tracery  over  the  face  of  the  wall  above, 
and  the  tall  open  gallery  in  front  of  the  openings  in  the  second 
stories  of  the  towers  are  among  these  features.  Considered, 
however,  independently  of  its  relationship  to  the  main  body  of 
the  building,  it  has  substantial  merits,  and  is  an  imposing  com- 
position, though  it  lacks  the  qualities  of  the  purest  Gothic  fronts. 

East  ends  in  the  developed  German  pointed  design  appear 
to  follow  French  models,  often  pretty  closely,  in  their  external 
as  in  their  internal  forms  —  as  in  St.  Elizabeth  of  Marburg, 
Freiburg,  and  Cologne.  The  forms  of  earlier  apses  have  been 
already  sufficiently  explained  in  treating  of  those  of  Magde- 
burg, Limburg,  and  Heisterbach.  The  exterior,  like  the  inte- 
rior, of  the  apse  of  Marburg  is  perfectly  Gothic,  and  is  a  very 
close  reproduction  of  that  of  the  Liebfrauenkirche  of  Trier. 

German  transept  ends  are  in  some  cases  of  apsidal  form,  as 
in  St.  Elizabeth  of  Marburg,  —  where  the  main  apse  is  exactly 
reproduced  in  both  arms,  —  but  they  are  more  usually  rectan- 
gular, as  in  France.  Neither  the.  east  end  nor  the  transept  in 
Germany  exhibits  any  peculiar  structural  features  that  need  be 
further  considered. 

The  characteristic  German  spire  was  of  very  late  develop- 
ment. Spires  of  stone  appear  to  have  been  rarely  constructed 
in  the  earlier  period  of  pointed  design.  In  the  wooden  spires 
of  the  earlier  monuments,  the  adjustment  to  the  square  tower 
is  not  generally  well  managed.  But  the  early  German  tower 
is  often  octagonal  —  as  the  eastern  towers  of  Gelnhausen.  In 
such    cases   the    octagonal  spire  would    naturally  adjust    itself 

^  This  upper  story  of  the  facade  is,  however,  I  beheve,  an  alteration  of  the 
original  design. 


VII  POINTED    CONSTRUCTIOiY  IIV  GERMANY  257 

to  its  foundation  without  the  help  of  auxiliary  features.  But 
the  German  genius  was  always  fertile  in  the  production  of 
picturesque  effects  in  architecture,  and  it  has  seemed  to  take 
pleasure  in  going  out  of  the  path  of  straightforward  design, 
and  simple  construction,  in  order  to  secure  picturesque  variety. 
Many  instances  of  this  occur  in  the  adjustment  of  the  tower 
roof  to  the  tower  in  the  Romanesque  churches.  Where,  for 
instance,  the  tower  is  square  and  it  would  be  natural  to  cover  it 
with  a  roof  in  the  form  of  a  square  pyramid  set  even  with  the 
walls,  the  German  architect  has  preferred  to  set  his  pyramid 
diagonally  —  placing  stone  gables  over  the  sides  of  the  tower 
which  thus  intersect  the  roof.  The  towers  of  Limburg  are 
roofed  in  this  manner.  A  similar  treatment  is  applied  to 
the  octagonal  towers  of  Gelnhausen.  Here  instead  of  set- 
ting the  spire  so  that  its  sides  would  be  even  with  the  tower 
walls,  the  architect  has  set  them  obliquely  —  bringing  their 
angles  over  the  centres  of  these  walls.  The  walls  are  then 
surmounted  with  gables,  forming  dormers  to  the  base  of  the 
spire,  and  the  resulting  composition  has  a  good  effect.  The 
spires  of  Gelnhausen  are,  however,  not  of  stone  ;  they  are  of 
timber  covered  with  slating  or  tiles.  In  one  of  them  an  odd 
form  is  produced  by  shaping  it  on  a  spiral  axis. 

In  cases  where  the  octagonal  spires  are  set  on  square  towers, 
the  adjustment  is  generally  awkward.  The  passage  from  the 
square  to  the  octagon  is  too  abrupt,  and  when  a  vertical  octago- 
nal drum  is  interposed  as  a  base  for  the  spire,  this  drum  often 
has  a  diameter  smaller  than  that  of  the  tower  on  which  it  rests. 
The  spires  of  the  Lorenzkirche  above  mentioned  are  thus  con- 
nected with  their  towers.  It  seems  to  have  been  the  intention 
to  construct  these  spires  of  stone,  and  the  base  of  the  northern 
one  appears  to  be  so  constructed  up  as  high  as  the  apexes  of  the 
gables  which  crown  each  face  of  the  drum.^  Some  octagonal 
spires  in  Germany  are  set  evenly  on  octagonal  towers  —  as  at 
Heiligenstadt,  but  such  towers  and  spires  have  little  Gothic 
character ;  the  tower  is  a  vertical  storied  edifice  having  no 
Gothic  organism.  The  spires  of  St.  Elizabeth  of  Marburg  have 
some  of  the  principal  features  of  Gothic  spires,  but  they  are  not 
of  good  form,  and  are  adjusted  in  a  strangely  awkward  manner. 
On  the  square  buttressed  tower  (Fig.  132)  a  steep-sided  octago- 

S  1 1  judge  of  this  from  a  photograph. 


258 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


nal  pyramid  is  set  obliquely.  This  pyramid  is  truncated  at 
a  level  above  its  base  about  equal  to  the  width  of  the  tower, 
and  its  sides  are  surrounded  by  a  parapet.  From  this  level  the 
spire,  whose  base  is  smaller  than  the  area  of  the  substructure, 
rises  without  any  auxiliary  features.  A 
strongly  marked  horizontal  line  thus 
breaks  the  continuity  of  the  upward  con- 
verging lines.  The  junction  of  the  lower 
octagon  with  the  tower  is  better  managed 
by  the  placing  of  a  pinnacle  on  each  angle 
of  the  tower  over  the  buttresses,  and  by 
a  steep  gabled  dormer  over  each  tower 
wall.  But  there  is  little  here  of  that 
organic  adjustment  of  beautifully  de- 
signed and  finely  proportioned  features 
—  each  having,  to  the  eye  at  least,  a 
functional  office  —  which  distinguishes 
French  spires  like  those  of  Chartres  and 
Senlis.  But  the  typical  spire  of  the  Ger- 
man pointed  style  is  of  a  different  char- 
acter from  all  those  thus  far  noticed.  It 
is  a  purely  ornamental  feature  of  open 
stonework,  and  is  not  at  all  the  roof  of 
the  tower,  as  true  Gothic  spires  invariably 
are.  The  spire  of  the  west  front  of 
Freiburg  is  a  characteristic  example.  The 
single  square  tower,  which  in  this  case 
terminates  the  nave,  rises  with  solid  but- 
tressed walls  to  the  apex  of  the  timber 
roof  over  the  vaulting.  It  carries  an 
enormous  vertical  octagon  of  open  stone- 
work, which  has  a  height  nearly  equal 
to  that  of  the  tower  itself,  and  from  this 
rises  the  skeleton  spire  richly  ornamented 
with  tracery  and  crockets.  On  the 
tower  angles,  against  the  oblique  sides  of  the  vertical  octagon, 
are  set  solid  vertical  abutments  which,  at  about  a  third  of  the 
height  of  the  octagon,  are  broken  up  into  open  canopies  with 
spiky  pinnacles  arranged  in  three  successive  tiers,  diminishing 
in  numbers  as  they  ascend  — their  extremities  falling  within  the 


Fig.  132.  —  Marburg. 


VII  POINTED    CONSTRUCTION  IN  GERMANY  259 

general  sloping  outline  of  the  whole  design.  The  vertical 
octagon  is  divided  into  three  stories  of  arched  openings,  of 
which  the  uppermost  is  the  tallest,  and  has  a  single  arch  over 
slender  mullions  and  tracery  surmounted  by  a  steep  crocketed 
gable  which  rises  through  the  horizontal  cornice.  Pronounced 
horizontal  lines  are  thus  avoided,  and  the  eye  is  led  continu- 
ously upward. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

POINTED   CONSTRUCTION  IN   ITALY 

During  the  twelfth  century  Gothic  architecture  had  no  in- 
fluence on  the  native  art  of  Italy.  The  direct  inheritance  of 
classic  traditions,  and  the  natural  predilection  for  classic  forms, 
had,  for  the  most  part,  maintained,  without  essential  change, 
an  architectural  system  which  differed,  in  no  fundamental  par- 
ticulars, from  that  of  the  Christian  Roman  basilica.^  But  at 
the  close  of  the  twelfth  century  the  monks  of  the  Cistercian 
order,  who  had  by  this  time  settled  in  various  parts  of  the 
peninsula,  began,  in  more  or  less  secluded  localities,  to  erect 
churches  in  which  the  pointed  architecture  of  Burgundy,  the 
original  home  of  the  Cistercians,  was  often  closely  reproduced. 
The  evidence  is  strong  that  this  Cistercian  architecture  on 
Italian  soil  had  ultimately  a  large  share  in  giving  rise  to  that 
peculiar  type  of  pointed  building  which  is  known  as  Italian 
Gothic.^  But  how  far  this  style  of  building  is  in  reality  Gothic, 
we  shall  presently  see. 

The  pointed  architecture  of  Burgundy  in  the  twelfth  century 
was  itself  not  strictly  Gothic.  The  duchy  of  Burgundy  did  not 
come  fully  under  the  architectural  influences  that  were  active 
in  the  Ile-de-France.  The  early  pointed  architecture  here  dif- 
fers, in  fact,  little  in  its  structural  character  from  the  organic 

^  I  believe  that  this  statement  needs  no  qualification.  The  strong  Byzantine 
influences  of  the  early  Middle  Ages  did  not,  in  general,  fundamentally  modify  Italian 
architectural  forms,  though  they  introduced  some  new  features;  and  the  Lombard 
Romanesque  of  the  eleventh  century,  while  essentially  different  from  the  basilican 
system,  was  not  a  native  Italian  development,  and  was  never  generally  adopted.  In 
Italian  architecture,  as  such,  the  basilican  forms  remained  dominant  until  the  close 
of  the  twelfth  century  ;  and  these  forms  were,  in  fact,  never  wholly  superseded  in 
Italian  design. 

2  Cf.  Origines  Fran^aises  de  V Architecture  Gothique  en  Italic,  by  C.  Enlart, 
Paris:  Thoin  et  Fils,  1894,  in  which  a  full  and  accurate  account  of  the  Cistercian 
architecture  of  Italy,  and  its  relationship  to  that  of  Burgundy,  on  the  one  hand,  and 
to  the  subsequent  Italian  pointed  style  on  the  other,  will  be  found. 

260 


CHAP.  VIII         POINTED    COXSTRUCTWN  IN  ITALY  261 

Romanesque  of  the  same  region.  The  Abbey  Church  of  Pon- 
tigny  may  be  taken  as  a  fair  example.  The  nave  and  aisles  of 
this  building  are  in  all  essential  respects  like  those  of  the  Roman- 
esque nave  of  Vezelay,  except  that  the  arches  are  pointed,  and 
that  groin  ribs  are  used  in  the  high  vaulting,  which  has  some- 
thing of  the  Gothic  form,  resulting  from  the  stilting  of  the 
longitudinal  rib;  the  aisle  vaults  have  no  groin  ribs.  In  some 
points  the  system  is  even  less  advanced  than  that  of  Vezelay. 
For  in  Vezelay  the  piers  are  compact,  and  their  vaulting  mem- 
bers, which  correspond  in  number  with  the  vault  ribs,  all  rise 
from  the  pavement.  But  in  Pontigny  the  pier  is  of  great  width, ^ 
the  pilaster  strip  is  correspondingly  wide,  and  the  engaged 
vaulting  shaft,  with  its  pilaster,  carries  all  the  ribs  of  the  vault- 
ing. The  vaulting  shaft,  moreover,  does  not  rise  from  the 
pavement,  but  rests  on  a  corbel  at  a  considerable  height  above 
it.  The  nave  was  not  originally  provided  with  flying  buttresses, 
though  such  buttresses  were  included  in  the  system  of  the  choir 
and  apse.^  Notwithstanding  that  it  was  built  late  in  the  twelfth 
century,  the  Church  of  Pontigny  is  a  heavily  walled  edifice  with 
small  openings,  and  having  no  complete  Gothic  skeleton. 

Other  pointed  Burgundian  buildings  of  this  epoch  have 
even  less  Gothic  character.  The  Church  of  Montreal  near 
Avallon,^  for  instance,  though  vaulted  on  a  full  system  of  ribs, 
has  no  stilting  of  the  longitudinal  arch,  and  no  winding  vault 
surfaces,  such  as  results  from  stilting.  The  external  openings 
here,  as  in  many  other  buildings  of  the  period  in  Burgundy, 
retain  the  round  arch,  and  the  whole  system  has  a  Romanesque 
expression.  This  monument  retains,  in  fact,  at  the  close  of 
the  twelfth  century,  many  of  the  characteristics  of  the  transi- 
tional architecture  of  the  Ile-de-France  of  the  early  part  of  that 
century. 

.  Another  type  of  Burgundian  pointed  architecture  is  charac- 
terized by  sexpartite  vaulting,  with  a  corresponding  alternate 
system  of  piers.  The  Church  of  Pont-sur-Yonne  is  of  this  class. 
Both  of  these  types  are,  as  pointed  out  by  M.  Enlart,  more  or 

^  Measuring  3.24  metres. 

■■^  The  flying  buttresses  now  existing  on  the  north  sirle  of  the  nave  are,  I  believe, 
of  a  date  considerably  later  than  that  of  the  original  construction  of  the  building. 

^  Figured  by  M.  C.  Enlart  in  his  Origines  Fraiifuises  de  V Architectttre  Gothique 
en  Italie,  p.  249. 


262 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


less  fully  reproduced  in  the  Cistercian  architecture  of  Italy  — 
the  first  in  churches  like  Fassanova,  south  of  Rome  (the 
earliest  of  the  series  of  Cistercian  churches  in  Italy),  dating 
from  1 187-1208,  and  San  Galgano,  near  Siena,  begun  in   12 18; 


Fig.  133.  —  San  Galgano. 

and  the  second  in  the  Church  of  San  Martino,  near  Viterbo, 
dating  from  the  commencement  of  the  thirteenth  century.^ 

The  Church  of  San  Galgano  (Fig.  133),  now  in  a  state  of 
ruin,  may  be  taken  for  comparison  with  that  of    Pontigny  to 


1  Cf.  Enlart,  Origiiies,  etc.,  p.  237  et  seq. 


VIII  POINTED    CONSTRUCTION  IN  ITALY  263 

illustrate  the  unmistakable  derivation  of  the  Cistercian  archi- 
tecture here  from  the  Burgundian  source.^  Our  figure,  show- 
ing a  portion  of  one  aisle  and  an  oblique  viev^  across  the  nave, 
affords,  owing  to  the  ruined  condition  of  the  building,  a  com- 
plete illustration  of  the  structure.  It  will  be  seen  that  the 
longitudinal  rib  of  the  high  vaulting  rises  vertically  for  a  con- 
siderable distance  above  the  main  impost,  and  enough  of  the 
vault  itself  remains  to  show  the  twisted  surface,  giving,  as  at 
Pontigny,  the  Gothic  form.  Also,  as  at  Pontigny,  we  have  a 
full  system  of  ribs  of  which  the  transverse  rib  (of  this  rib,  how- 
ever, only  one  stone  remains  in  place)  is  heavy,  and  of  a  single 
order  of  square  section.  The  pier,  too,  is  identical  with  the 
pier  of  Pontigny  —  having  a  pilaster  strip  from  the  pavement 
with  a  single  engaged  shaft  resting  on  a  corbel  at  a  considerable 
height  above  the  pavement.  The  exact  similarity  holds,  also,  in 
the  ground-story  archivolts  and  their  supports,  in  the  pointed 
openings  of  the  clerestory,  and  with  the  insignificant  exception 
of  a  small  round-arched  opening  (which  does  not  occur  in 
Pontigny)  in  the  triforium  wall.  It  will  be  seen  further  that 
the  clerestory  buttresses  are  substantially  the  same,  and  that  no 
flying  buttresses  are  included  in  the  system  —  the  great  breadth 
and  thickness  of  the  wall,  reenforced  by  the  vigorous  pier  but- 

1  The  eminent  Italian  architect,  Sig.  Canestrelli,  in  a  recently  published  monograph 
(Z'  Ahbazia  di  San  Galgano,  Florence  :  Alinari  Brothers,  1896)  discusses  (p.  jgetseq.) 
the  relationship  of  the  Cistercian  buildings  of  Italy  to  the  architecture  of  the  twelfth 
century  in  Burgundy  and  says :  "  Lo  stile  usato  dai  Cistercensi  in  Italia  nella  con- 
struzione  della  maggior  parte  dei  loro  templi  e  uno  stile  di  transizione,  che,  inspirato 
agli  elementi  fondamentali  dell'  architettura  lombarda,  palesa  poi  in  certe  disposizioni 
icnografiche,  in  alcune  forme  statiche,  ed  in  qualche  dettaglio  ornamentale,  1'  influenza 
della  scuola  architettonica  della  Borgogna.  Ma  per  ragione  di  questa  secondaria 
influenza,  non  crediamo  possa  dirsi  che  i  Cistercensi  introdussero  in  Italia  1'  archi- 
tettura ogivale.  I  germi  di  questa,  lo  dicemmo,  si  palesano  appunto  in  Italia  in  quella 
primitiva  forma  lombarda  che  il  Nordini  acutamente  chiamo  proto-ogival'e  :  ne  quella 
stessa  influenza  borgognona  a  cui  abbiamo  accennato,  puo  considerarsi  di  origine  e  di 
carattere  schiettamente  francese,  poiche  antiche  e  frequent!  furono  le  relazioni 
artistiche  fra  la  Lombardia  e  la  Borgogna,  cuna  dell'  Ordine  Cistercense." 

It  is  true,  as  we  have  already  seen  (p.  44),  that  the  organic  Romanesque  of 
Burgundy  owes  its  fundamental  elements  to  the  Lombard  Romanesque.  But  the 
pointed  architecture  of  Burgundy  has  some  features,  derived  from  the'  early  Gothic 
of  the  Ile-de-France,  which  did  not  exist  in  any  Lombard  monuments.  It  is  this 
Burgundian  architecture  of  a  partially  Gothic  character,  and  not  the  Lombard 
Romanesque,  that  was  reproduced  in  Italy  by  the  Cistercian  monks.  The  germs 
of  Gothic  arose,  indeed,  as  Sig.  Canestrelli  truly  says,  in  the  primitive  Lombard 
architecture;   l)ut  these  germs  were  never  developed  in  Italy. 


264  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

tresses,  rendering  them  unnecessary.  In  the  aisle  vaulting 
alone  do  we  find  a  material  departure  from,  and  an  improve- 
ment on,  Pontigny  —  here,  equally  with  the  nave,  a  full  set  of 
ribs  occurs. 

We  have,  then,  in  the  nave  of  San  Galgano  a  Burgundian 
pointed  (not  a  perfectly  Gothic)  building  on  Italian  soil.  But, 
just  as  in  Pontigny,  the  vaulting  has  more  Gothic  character 
than  most  Burgundian  pointed  buildings,  so  in  the  vaulting  of 
San  Galgano  we  find  the  true  Gothic  form,  which  occurs  in  few, 
if  any,  other  Cistercian  buildings  in  Italy.  In  the  Church  of 
Fassanova,  for  instance,  which  is  in  other  respects  almost 
exactly  like  Pontigny  and  San  Galgano  in  its  structural  system, 
the  vaulting  has  nothing  of  the  Gothic  shape ;  and  it  has  no 
groin  ribs  in  either  nave  or  aisles. 

Precisely  at  what  time  the  Italian  builders  themselves  be- 
gan to  use  the  pointed  arch  and  to  give  form  to  the  distinc- 
tively Italian  pointed  architecture,  it  is  difficult  to  ascertain. 
Among  the  pointed  churches  of  the  first  half  of  the  thirteenth 
century  are  some  which  are  not  exclusively  Cistercian.  Towards 
the  middle  of  this  century  the  Dominicans  and  Franciscans 
began  to  take  an  active  part  in  architectural  works ;  and  in 
the  churches  built  by  them,  as  well  as  in  others  of  the  time, 
various  foreign  influences  are  manifest  in  tangled  confusion. 
It  is  therefore  not  easy  to  make  out  where  the  elements  that 
may  properly  be  called  native  begin  to  take  form. 

Among  the  buildings  which  are  for  the  most  part  neither 
purely  Burgundian  nor  yet  what  we  recognize  as  distinctly 
Italian  are  the  Church  of  St.  Andrea  of  Vercelli  and  that  of 
St.  Francis  of  Assisi.  Mr.  Fergusson  affirms  ^  that  St.  Andrea 
of  Vercelli  was  designed  by  an  English  architect,  while  M. 
Enlart  supposes  ^  that  its  architect  may  have  been  a  French- 
man from  the  north  of  France.  The  structural  system  of  the 
monument  affords,  indeed,  no  support  to  the  belief  that  its 
designer  was  an  Englishman  ;  and  while  it  has  many  features 
that  indicate  an  influence  from  the  north  of  France,  it  fails 
to  exhibit  a  perfectly  Gothic  character.  The  vaulting  of  the 
nave  has,  indeed,  somewhat  of  the  true  Gothic  form,  and  the 
slender  vaulting  shafts  rising  from  the  pavement  are   enough 

1  History  of  Architecture  in  all  Countries,  vol.  ii.  p.  324. 

2  Origines,  etc.,  p.  183. 


VIII  POIXTED    COXSTRUCTION  IN  ITALY  265 

like  Gothic  shafts  to  be  the  work  of  a  French  architect.  The 
composition  of  the  ground-story  pier  has  likewise  a  substan- 
tially Gothic  character,  though  it  is  of  an  unusual  form,  con- 
sisting of  a  large,  round  column  surrounded  by  slender  shafts 
resembling  the  piers  of  Bourges.  The  vaulting  of  the  choir 
and  transept  is  different ;  it  has  no  stilting  of  the  longitudinal 
rib,  and  hence  no  perfectly  Gothic  shape.  The  mode  of  en- 
closure is  throughout  far  from  Gothic.  The  heavy  walls  are 
wholly  unbroken  above  the  ground-story  arcade  save  by  a 
small  round-arched  opening  in  the  clerestory  of  each  bay. 
The  profiling  is  a  mixture  of  Lombard  or  Burgundian,  and 
true  Gothic  elements.  The  ground-story  archivolts  are  of  the 
first  type,  while  the  vault  ribs,  capitals,  and  bases  are  of  the 
second.  Thus  in  its  general  structural  character,  St.  Andrea 
of  Vercelli  conforms  in  part  with  the  Cistercian  buildings  of 
the  type  of  San  Galgano  and  Fassanova,  while  in  some  of  its 
features  it  follows  the  early  Gothic  of  the  Ile-de-France.  In 
its  internal  system  it  exhibits  nothing  that  can  be  called  dis- 
tinctly Italian. 

The  Church  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi  has  a  different  charac- 
ter, though  with  some  points  of  likeness  in  its  details.  Vasari 
affirms^  that  it  was  designed  by  a  German  architect.  M.  Ramee, 
on  the  other  hand,  calls  it  a  French  monument  and  says  :  ^  "  Elle 
est  dans  le  style  ogival  pur  de  France,"  adding  that  it  cannot  be 
of  German  origin  since  the  pointed  architecture  of  Germany  was, 
at  the  time,  too  undeveloped  to  have  furnished  the  model.  M. 
Ramee  is,  however,  much  mistaken  in  supposing  that  St.  Francis 
of  Assisi  is  a  building  in  the  pure  Gothic  style.  Structurally  it 
has  little  Gothic  character.  But  the  vaulting  is  like  much  of 
the  Cistercian  vaulting,  and  Cistercian  vaulting  of  the  same 
kind  existed  in  Germany  as  well  as  in  Italy  in  the  early  part 
of  the  thirteenth  century.  Vasari's  statement  is,  therefore, 
hardly  disproved  by  such  considerations  as  M.  Ramee  and  a 
few  other  recent  writers  have  advanced.  However  this  may 
be,  the  building  itself  is  of  a  mixed  character,  and  it  includes 
some  features  which  must,  it  would  seem,  have  been  derived 
directly  from  the  Ile-de-France.  The  most  important  of  these 
features  is  the  vaulting  of   the  apse.     In  plan  this  apse  is  a 

^  Lh'es,  etc.,  London,  1876,  vol.  i.  pp.  51-53. 

2  Hist.  Gincrale  de  P Architecture,  vol.  ii.  p.  II2I. 


266  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

polygon  of  five  sides ;  the  crowns  of  the  arches  over  these 
sides  reach  high  up  into  the  vaulting,  and  the  vault  surfaces 
are  vertical  for  a  considerable  distance  above  the  springing  of 
the  radial  ribs.  The  form  is  thus  perfectly  that  of  Gothic 
apsidal  vaulting;  and  while  it  is  possible  that  it  might  have 
been  designed  by,  a  German  architect,  since  vaulting  of  this 
nature  had  somewhat  before  this  time  been  built  in  Germany, 
—  as  in  the  Liebfrauenkirche  of  Trier,  —  it  seems  unlikely  that 
this  vault  was  derived  from  a  German  source,  as  most  of  the 
details  connected  with  it,  the  capitals  and  bases  especially, 
are  of  the  pure  French  types.  The  work  itself  seems  to  indi- 
cate a  direct  influence  from  the  Ile-de-France. 

The  nave,  on  the  other  hand,  has  no  Gothic  character,  ex- 
cept so  much  as  is  given  it  by  a  full  set  of  pointed  ribs  in  the 
vaulting.  The  compartments  of  this  vaulting  are  square,  the 
ribs  all  spring  from  the  same  level,  and  the  vaulting  conoid 
is  thus  spread  out  to  the  utmost  against  the  wall.  The 
building  has  no  aisles,  and  up  to  a  few  feet  of  the  spring- 
ing it  is  enclosed  with  an  enormously  heavy  wall.  Above  this 
level  the  wall  is  thinner,  and  each  bay  is  pierced  with  a  narrow 
pointed  opening.  Hardly  any  feature  of  the  design  suggests 
a  peculiarly  native  origin,  though  the  plainly  bevelled  sections 
of  the  vault  ribs  foreshadow  those  that  are  common  in  the 
later  Italian  pointed  monuments.  Against  the  walls  externally 
are  vertical,  half-round,  tower-like  buttresses,  with  heavy  flying 
buttresses  abutting  at  a  low  level,  and  spanning  the  lateral 
chapels  of  the  lower  church  which  is  formed  by  a  vaulted 
basement  beneath  the  main  edifice. 

A  very  different  scheme  is  embodied  in  the  Church  of  St. 
Francis  of  Bologna,  dating  from  1 236-1240.  Here  we  have 
a  nave  covered  with  sexpartite  vaulting,  a  form  that  is  rare 
in  Italy,  though  it  occurs  in  a  few  other  instances  —  as  in  the 
easternmost  bay  of  St.  Galgano  and  in  the  Cathedral  of  Piacenza. 
While  not  a  Cistercian  church,  its  internal  bays,  in  their  gen- 
eral forms  and  proportions,  correspond  to  those  of  St.  Galgano 
and  Fassanova.  The  piers,  however,  are  very  different,  the 
main  piers  of  the  first  double  bay  adjoining  the  transept  hav- 
ing, on  the  ground  story,  an  octagonal  core  with  a  plain  en- 
gaged pilaster  on  each  face,  three  of  which  rise  to  the  springing 
and  support  the  main  ribs  of  the  vaulting.     The  intermediate 


VIII  POINTED    CONSTRUCTIOiY  /X  ITALY  267 

pier  is  a  plain  octagon  column,  on  the  ground  story,  with  a 
single  pilaster  rising  from  it  to  carry  the  intermediate  trans- 
verse rib.  Throughout  the  remaining  bays,  the  ground-story 
piers  are  uniformly  like  the  intermediate  piers  of  the  first  bay, 
with  a  single  pilaster  support  for  the  vaulting  in  the  main  and 
intermediate  piers  alike.  The  vaulting  has  transverse  and  di- 
agonal ribs,  very  small  longitudinal  ribs,^  and  slightly  winding 
surfaces  in  the  main  vaulting  conoids. 

St.  Francis  of  Bologna  has  a  polygonal  apse  of  seven  sides 
with  an  apsidal  aisle  and  radial  chapels.  Its  plan  is  thus  essen- 
tially Gothic  and  unlike  what  is  common  in  Italy.  This  apse 
has  a  vault  of  Gothic  form  and,  what  is  remarkable,  its  thrusts 
are  met  by  a  system  of  flying  buttresses,  each  consisting  of  a 
single  arch  carried  high  over  the  aisle  roof,  precisely  as  in  the 
early  French  Gothic  apses.  The  vaulting  of  the  nave  has  simi- 
lar flying  buttresses  alternating  with  the  solid  wall  buttresses 
built  over  the  aisle,  such  as  are  common  in  Italy.  Thus  in 
general  form  and  construction  this  edifice  has  a  good  deal  of 
Gothic  character,  which  seems  to  indicate  a  strong  French  influ- 
ence ;  and  it  is,  I  believe,  without  a  parallel  elsewhere  in  Italy. 

In  each  of  the  foregoing  buildings  the  evidence  of  direct 
foreign  influence,  in  the  whole  or  in  parts,  is  apparent.  What 
may  be  called  the  distinctively  Italian  type  of  pointed  architec- 
ture, without  features  that  appear  to  have  been  directly  imported, 
occurs  first,  perhaps,  in  the  Dominican  Church  of  Sta.  Maria 
Novella  in  Florence,  which  was  founded  in  1278.  This  church 
has  a  nave  and  aisles,  a  transept  in  the  extreme  east  end  without 
aisles,  and  a  short  rectangular  choir.  It  is  vaulted  throughout, 
and  the  whole  interior  is  of  admirably  worked  stone.  The 
characteristics  of  the  Cistercian  pointed  art,  as  exhibited  in 
San  Galgano,  are  here  considerably  modified,  but  not  in  a  way 
that  renders  the  building  any  more  like  true  Gothic.  The  vault- 
ing is  mostly  in  square  compartments,  which,  since  the  system  is 
of  the  uniform  type,  produces  oblong  vaults  in  the  aisles.  The 
vault  forms  of  San  Galgano  are  thus,  in  plan,  here  reversed. 
The  vault  ribs,  as  we  shall  henceforth  invariably  find  to  be  the 

^  These  longitudinal  ribs  are  shown  in  a  drawing  pul)lished  by  Sig.  Rubbiani 
in  a  monograph  by  him  entitled,  La  Chiesa  di  S.  Francesco  in  Bologna,  Bologna, 
1886  ;  but  are  invisible  in  the  photograph  reproduced  by  M.  Enlart  in  his  Origines 
Fran^aises  de  i  ''Architecture  Gothique  en  Italie. 


268  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

case  in  Italy,  all  spring  from  the  same  level,  and  the  vaults 
themselves  have  consequently  no  true  Gothic  shape.  The  piers 
are  composed  of  substantially  the  same  members  as  the  piers  of 
San  Galgano ;  but  their  proportions  are  much  more  slender. 
The  most  striking  departure  from  Burgundian,  as  well  as  from 
Gothic,  design  is  that  of  the  enormous  height  given  to  the 
ground-story  arcade.  This  peculiarity,  which  became  character- 
istic of  Italian  pointed  buildings,  is  brought  about  by  the  great 
width  necessarily  given  to  the  bays  of  the  nave  by  the  use  of 
the  square  form  of  vault  in  connection  with  a  uniform  system  of 
supports.  In  the  Burgundian  pointed  buildings,  and  in  the 
Cistercian  pointed  architecture  of  Italy,  the  alternate  arrange- 
ment of  the  Lombard  Romanesque  is  generally  followed ;  that 
is,  an  intermediate  pier  is  inserted  on  the  ground  story  between 
every  pair  of  main  piers  when  square  vaults  are  placed  over  the 
nave  —  as  in  the  Church  of  Pont-sur-Yonne  in  Burgundy,  and  in 
San  Martino  near  Viterbo.  By  thus  avoiding  the  wide  spacing 
of  the  supports  of  the  ground-story  arcades,  their  excessive 
elevation  is  also  avoided.  But  by  the  Italian  architects  of  the 
thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries  the  square  vault  without  the 
intermediate  pier  was  the  arrangement  generally  adopted.  A 
similar  arrangement  frequently  occurs,  it  is  true,  in  the  early 
transitional  architecture  of  the  Ile-de-France  —  as  in  the  nave 
of  Bury  (p.  ^y);  but  such  French  buildings  are  on  a  small  scale, 
and  the  massiveness  of  their  piers  is  so  great  that  the  spans, 
and  consequent  height,  of  the  m.ain  arcades  are  not  proportion- 
ally excessive.  The  Italians,  in  their  largest  pointed  structures, 
evince  a  predilection  for  altitude  in  the  main  arches  of  their 
interiors.  Here  in  Sta.  Maria  Novella  (Fig.  134)  the  crowns  of 
these  arches  reach  even  higher  than  the  springing  of  the  vaults. 
There  is  thus  scarcely  any  triforium  space  ;  and  the  blank  wall 
of  the  low  clerestory  is  broken  only  by  a  small  oculus  placed 
far  up  near  the  crown  of  the  arch  of  the  vault. 

No  adequate  buttress  system  is  apparent  on  the  outside  of 
the  building,  and  yet  the  vaults  are  not  tied  in  by  iron  rods,  as 
they  frequently  are  in  Italy.  An  examination  of  the  structure 
over  the  vaulting  of  the  aisles  reveals,  however,  the  existence 
of  powerful  abutments  in  the  form  of  solid  walls  built  upon  the 
transverse  ribs  of  the  aisles,  and  reaching  up  to  the  rafters  of  the 
lean-to  timber  roofs.     Similar  walls  are  built  over  the  haunches 


POINTED    CONSTRUCTION  IN  ITALY 


269 


of  the  transverse  ribs  of  the  high  vaulting ;  and  deep  pier  but- 
tresses against  the  clerestory  walls,  with  others  against  the  walls 


of  the  ground  story,  complete  the  buttress  system  (Fig.  135). 
This  certainly  cannot  be  called  Gothic  construction ;  though  by 
it  the  stability  of  the  vaulting  is  secured. 


270 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


The  main  body  of  the  Cathedral  of  Arezzo,  dating  from 
the  latter  part  of  the  thirteenth  century,  so  closely  resembles 
Sta.  Maria  Novella  in  its  structural  form  as  to  call  for  no 
extended  notice.  What  may  be  called  the  Italian  character- 
istics in  pointed  design  prevail  here  equally.     But  the  apse  of 


Fig.  135.  —  Section  of  Sta.  Maria  Novella. 


Arezzo  has  features  that  are  not  Italian.  Its  plan  is  like  that  of 
the  apse  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi,  but  its  proportions  are  taller,  and 
yet  it  has  a  less  strictly  Gothic  form.  The  cells  of  the  vault  are 
much  less  developed  and  the  vault  as  a  whole  retains  more  of 
the  form   of    a  gored   semidome.     The  tall  mullioned  lancets 


VIII  POINTED    CONSTRUCTION'  IN  ITALY  271 

with  tracery,  which  occupy  three  of  the  bays  of  this  apse,  are 
in  themselves  of  thoroughly  Gothic  character ;  they  do  not, 
however,  reach  to  the  arches  of  the  vaulting,  and  the  large 
wall  spaces  above  them  betray  the  Italian,  as  opposed  to  the 
Gothic,  habit  of  design. 

Perhaps  the  next  Italian  pointed  building  of  importance  is 
the  Franciscan  Church  of  Sta.  Croce  at  Florence,  which  is  said 
to  have  been  designed  towards  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century 
by  the  architect  Arnolfo.  It  has  a  nave  of  great  proportionate 
width  with  side  aisles,  a  transept  at  the  extreme  east  end  with 
square  eastern  chapels,  and  a  polygonal  apse  of  five  sides.  The 
apse  and  chapels  only  are  vaulted  —  all  the  rest  of  the  structure 
being  covered  by  open  timber  roofs.  The  main  body  of  the 
church  is  thus  in  plan,  and  in  general  form,  substantially  the 
same  as  an  early  Christian  Roman  basilica.  Many  of  the  de- 
tails of  construction  are,  indeed,  different  from  those  of  the 
Roman  basilican  churches,  but  these  details  do  not  essentially 
affect  the  general  character  of  the  monument.  They  consist 
chiefly  in  the  wide  spacing  of  the  piers  (now  become  general 
in  Italian  pointed  design),  giving  the  arches  of  the  main  arcade 
an  excessive  height,  as  we  have  just  seen,  and  in  the  form  of 
the  aisle  roofs,  which  consist  of  a  series  of  gabled  compart- 
ments set  with  their  axes  perpendicular  to  the  axis  of  the  nave. 
These  roofs  rest  upon  walls  carried  on  transverse  arches  of 
stone,  and  as  the  rafters  of  each  compartment  are  abutted  by 
those  of  the  one  next  adjoining,  no  trussing  is  required.  The 
piers  are  simple  and  uniform  octagonal  columns  of  coursed 
masonry,  like  those  of  St.  Francis  of  Bologna.  The  archivolts 
arc  of  two  orders  of  plain  square  section  ;  and  a  shallow  pilas- 
ter rises  from  the  capital  of  each  pier  to  the  clerestory  cornice. 
This  pilaster  has,  of  course,  in  an  unvaulted  nave,  no  structural 
use,  but  it  gives  some  appearance  of  an  organic  system  in  a 
general  view  of  the  interior.  A  corbelled  passageway  is  car- 
ried all  round  the  interior  at  the  triforium  level,  except  at  the 
transept,  where  it  rises  in  a  flight  of  steps  to  pass  over  the 
great  arches  of  the  transept,  and  returns  at  this  level  across 
the  east  end.  The  plain  walls  of  the  aisles  and  clerestory  are 
pierced  with  a  tall  lancet,  divided  by  a  single  mullion  and  sim- 
ple tracery,  in  each  bay.  The  only  feature  of  a  really  Gothic 
nature  in  Sta.  Croce  is  the  vaulting  of  the  apse.     This  is  not 


272  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

merely  a  ribbed  semidome,  or  a  celled  vault  of  a  primitive 
character ;  it  is  a  true  Gothic  apsidal  vault  almost  as  distinctly 
developed  as  that  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi,  and  closely  resem- 
bling it.  This  vault  is  carried,  however,  on  corbels  only ;  and 
the  crowns  of  the  tall  lancet  openings  which  occupy  the  three 
easternmost  sides  of  the  apse  fall,  as  in  the  apse  of  Arezzo,  far 
below  the  arches  of  the  vault.  Large  spaces  are  thus  left 
above  them,  which  are  here  each  pierced  with  an  oculus. 

Features  derived  from  the  Gothic  are  sometimes  in  Italy, 
as  elsewhere,  engrafted  on  buildings  which  had  not  originally 
any  pointed  elements.  In  the  neighbouring  Cathedral  of  Prato, 
a  building  of  the  Pisan  Romanesque  type,  such  features  occur. 
The  nave  of  Prato  was  covered  in  the  fourteenth  century  with 
vaulting  like  that  of  Sta.  Maria  Novella  in  Florence.  But  this 
vaulting  has  no  organic  system  of  supports  in  the  plain  basilican 
Romanesque  substructure.  Some  pointed  openings  were  in- 
serted at  this  period,  among  which  are  the  portal  of  the  west 
facade  and  the  portal  of  the  south  arm  of  the  transept  —  be- 
sides some  other  pointed  openings  in  the  east  side,  which  is 
said  to  have  been  enlarged  by  Giovanni  Pisano.  The  portal 
of  the  transept  is  a  very  beautiful  example  of  the  purest  and 
most  monumental  type  of  the  so-called  Italian  Gothic. 

In  the  province  of  Venetia  a  type  of  pointed  architecture 
occurs  which  is  characterized  by  the  use  of  the  plain  round 
column,  instead  of  the  compound  pier,  on  the  ground  story. 
The  use,  at  a  comparatively  late  period,  of  this  form  of  pier 
shows  again  how  little  feeling  for  the  Gothic  principles  the 
Italians  had.  The  Church  of  the  Frari  in  Venice  is  of  this 
type.  Its  vaulted  nave  and  aisles  are  in  other  respects  on  the 
characteristic  Italian  model  —  with  high  arcades,  blank  and 
diminished  triforium  space,  and  a  low  clerestory.  The  Frari 
has,  however,  an  apse  with  vaulting  of  true  Gothic  form.  An- 
other church  of  the  same  type  is  that  of  Sta.  Anastasia  of  Verona. 
But  the  apse  of  Sta.  Anastasia  has  a  vault  which  is  hardly  more 
than  a  semidome,  and  heavily  walled  sides  without  Gothic 
openings. 

The  greater  cathedrals  of  pointed  design  in  Italy  show, 
equally  with  the  foregoing  monuments,  how  little  real  Gothic 
spirit,  and  how  little  of  any  kind  of  structural  logic,  there  was 
in  the  otherwise  superior  artistic  genius  of  the  Italians.     Among 


VIII  POINTED    CONSTRUCTION'  IN  ITALY  273 

the  more  important  of  these  the  first  in  date  is  the  Cathedral  of 
Siena.^  Though  built  under  the  superintendence  of  monks 
from  the  neighbouring  monastery  of  San  Galgano,  and  following 
the  same  general  structural  scheme,  the  design  is  not  a  close 
copy  of  the  Church  of  San  Galgano  ;  and  its  variations  from  this 
model  are  in  the  direction  of  what  is  peculiar  to  Italian  pointed 
architecture,  though  the  pointed  arch  is  not  used  structurally  in 
its  composition.  It  has  domical  groined  vaulting  in  nearly 
square  compartments,  with  round-arched  ribs  all  springing  from 
the  same  level,  and  piers  which,  while  composed  on  the  model 
of  those  of  San  Galgano,  are  more  simple  because  the  archivolts 
of  the  great  arcade  are  of  a  single,  instead  of  a  double,  order. 
There  are  no  triforium  openings,  but  a  corbelled  gallery  passes 
along  the  wall  at  the  triforium  level.  The  openings  of  the 
clerestory  and  aisles  are  pointed,  and  are  larger  than  is  usual  in 
Italian  buildings.  Siena  has  a  dome  at  the  crossing,  a  feature 
which  is  foreign  to  the  principles  of  Gothic,  and  in  no  part  of 
the  edifice  is  the  true  Gothic  system  approached.  We  have  in 
this  building  an  emphatic  illustration  of  the  fact  that  the  pointed 
arch  had,  in  the  minds  of  the  Italian  workmen,  no  connection 
with  structural  use.  The  architectural  changes  which  were  so 
interestingly  brought  about  in  the  primitive  Gothic  of  France  by 
the  structural  use  of  this  arch  find  no  parallel  in  Italy.  In  the 
real  Gothic,  as  we  have  seen,  these  changes  take  place  first  in 
the  structural  parts  of  the  interior.  But  in  the  interior  of  Siena 
the  pointed  arch  does  not  occur.  The  system  exhibits  no  more 
advanced  organic  character  than  the  naves  of  St.  Ambrogio 
of  Milan  and  San  Michele  of  Pavia,  which  were  built  two  hundred 
years  before.  In  the  external  openings  only  (which  in  France 
were  the  last  features  to  assume  the  Gothic  form)  does  the 
pointed  arch  appear. 

A  still  more  striking  instance  of  the  lack  of  structural 
meaning  in  the  Italian  use  of  the  pointed  arch  is  afforded  by 
the  nave  of  Orvieto.  Here  we  find  no  organic  system  at  all. 
The  blank  clerestory  walls  are  carried  on  round  arches  and 
cylindrical  columns,  and  the  whole  is  covered  by  a  trussed 
timber  roof  only.     The  monument  reproduces  the  forms  of  the 


^  For  an  account  of  the  building  of  the  Cathedral  of  Siena  see  the  work  of  Pro- 
fessor C.  E.  Norton,  Church  Building  in  the  Middle  Ages.     New  York  :  1880. 
T 


274  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  .  chap. 

Christian  Roman  basilica  with  no  essential  modifications.     But 
the  windows  are  all  pointed. 

The  building  which  is  commonly  regarded  as  the  crowning 
monument  of  the  Italian  pointed  style  is  the  Cathedral  of  Flor- 
ence. This  building,  as  it  now  exists,  is,  however,  an  example 
of  the  later,  and  least  meritorious,  form  of  pointed  architecture 
in  Italy.  Of  the  structure  begun  in  the  earlier  style  by  the 
architect  Arnolfo  at  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century,  little 
remains.  It  is  doubtful  whether  any  part  of  his  work  was  left 
after  the  remodelling  to  which  the  building  was  subjected  in  the 
fourteenth  century. 

In  plan  this  building  consists  of  a  nave  and  aisles  with  apsi- 
dal  projections  north  and  south,  forming  a  kind  of  eastern  tran- 
sept, an  eastern  apse,  and  a  vast 
octagonal  space  enclosed  by  these 
several  parts.  The  vaulting  of  the 
nave  is  in  gigantic  square  compart- 
ments, while  the  compartments  of 
the  aisles  are  of  narrow  oblong  shape. 
All  of  the  vaulting  ribs  are  pointed 
and  spring  from  the  same  level,  and 
the  vaults  themselves  are  much  domed. 
The  exaggerated  height  of  the  main 
arcades,  already  noticed  as  peculiar 
to  Italy,  is  here  emphasized  to  the  utmost.  One  of  these 
enormous  arches  would  embrace  the  whole  nave  of  a  church 
of  no  mean  magnitude,  and  yet  this  vast  structure,  as  often 
remarked,  fails  to  impress  the  eye  with  a  sense  of  its  real 
size.  Nor  is  this  want  of  apparent  largeness  of  scale  made 
up  for  by  any  considerable  beauty  of  proportions  or  by  any 
peculiar  structural  interest.  The  system  exhibits,  on  the  other 
hand,  some  singularly  meaningless  and  illogical  features.  The 
piers,  for  instance,  have  the  section  shown  in  Fig.  136,  and 
the  vault  supports  are  continuous  from  the  pavement;  but,  as 
may  be  seen  in  the  elevation  (Fig.  137),  there  are  no  capitals 
either  at  the  springing  of  the  great  arches  or  at  the  springing 
of  the  vaults.  The  impost  is  marked  in  each  case  by  a  band  of 
mouldings  only.  Lower  down  an  ill-composed  capital  (which  is 
little  more  than  an  ornamental  band  of  leafage  and  mouldings 
following  the  section  of  the  pier)  is  placed.     The  vaulting  ribs 


1 


VIII 


POINTED   CONSTRUCTION  IN  ITALY 


275 


and  vaulting  shafts  are  merely  the 
corresponding  parts  of  the  pier  itself, 
which  branch  off  at  the  imposts.  This 
sameness  of  section,  and  sameness  of 
magnitude,  in  both  ribs  and  supports 
is  a  characteristic  of  the  flamboyant 
Gothic  of  France  (though  the  flamboy- 
ant profiling  is  different,  of  course),  and 
it  is  a  highly  monotonous  and  uninter- 
esting mode  of  design. 

The  Cathedral  of  Florence  has  no 
triforium;  but  the  corbelled  gallery,  so 
frequent  in  the  larger  Italian  churches, 
passes  around  the  whole  interior  just 
below  the  springing  of  the  vaults,  and 
the  low  and  blank  clerestory  is  lighted 
with  an  oculus  in  each  bay. 

Notwithstanding  the  wide  span  of 
the  vaulting,  no  external  buttresses, 
other  than  the  pilaster  strips  of  less 
than  usual  thickness,  occur  in  the  sys- 
tem. The  enormous  side  thrusts  are 
met  by  the  strength  of  the  walls  and  by 
the  usual  Italian  wall  buttresses  over 
the  aisle  vaults  concealed  beneath  their 
timber  roofs.  In  addition  to  this,  how- 
ever, it  has  been  found  necessary  to 
insert  iron  tie-rods,  —  which  disfigure 
the  interior  here  as  in  many  other 
Italian  pointed  buildings.  The  three 
apses  have  the  structural  character  of 
Romanesque  works,  and  the  great  dome, 
though  a  magnificent  architectural  de- 
sign, is  equally  removed  in  form  and 
constructive  principle  from  Gothic  art.^ 


A 


'% 


&>* 


Fig.  137. —  Florence. 


1  The  existing  dome,  as  is  well  known,  was  no 
part  of  the  original  design,  or  even  of  the  remodelled  design  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury. A  dome  of  some  kind,  with  domed  apses,  may,  however,  have  been  included 
in  the  scheme  of  the  original  architect.  A  fresco  in  the  Spanish  Chapel  of  Sta.  Maria 
Novella  contains  an  interesting  representation  of  a  church  with  a  dome  and  apses 
which  have  been  supposed  to  illustrate  the  original  design  of  Arnolfo. 


276  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

But  this  dome  accords  well  with  the  other  parts  of  the  building, 
and  the  fact  that  it  does  so  shows  further  how  little  Gothic 
character  the  building  has.  It  would  be  impossible  to  make  a 
dome  harmonize  with  a  building  like  Amiens  Cathedral. 

The  equally  gigantic,  though  never  completed,  Church  of  San 
Petronio  of  Bologna,  begun  in  1390,  closely  resembles,  in  its 
larger  features,  the  Cathedral  of  Florence.  The  system  is  better 
in  its  details  —  having  its  capitals  at  the  true  impost  levels,  and 
the  heavy  corbelled  gallery  is  omitted.  The  building  is  further 
noticeable  on  account  of  its  buttresses  —  which  are  more  effec- 
tive than  those  of  Florence,  since  they  rise  through  the  aisle 
roof  and  meet  the  vault  thrusts  above  as  well  as  below  it.  In 
other  respects  they  are  like  those  of  Florence  and  other  Italian 
buildings,  and  consist  of  solid  walls  built  over  the  aisle  arches  in 
the  primitive  Lombard  manner.  It  is  curious  thus  to  find  the 
Italian  builders  at  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century  construct- 
ing buttresses  after  the  manner  of  those  of  the  Lombard 
Romanesque  of  the  eleventh  century;  and  it  shows  that  the 
architectural  system  had  not  essentially  changed  in  its  structural 
principles. 

Finally,  in  the  nave  of  Lucca,  also  a  work  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  we  have  an  instructive  illustration  of  the  manner  in 
which  the  real  Italian  architectural  preferences  frequently  re- 
asserted themselves  before  the  period  of  the  Classic  Renais- 
sance. The  structural  arches  of  this  building  are,  as  in  Siena, 
of  the  round  form,  with  exception  of  the  longitudinal  ribs  of  the 
high  vaulting.  Lucca  is  taller  in  its  proportions  than  most  of 
the  other  Italian  churches,  and  the  use  of  the  round  arch  keeps 
the  great  arcade  comparatively  low ;  while  the  clerestory  also 
being  low,  space  is  found  for  an  open  triforium  of  unusual 
height.  This  feature  is  almost  unique  among  Italian  buildings 
of  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  and  it  gives  a  good 
deal  of  Gothic  expression  to  this  interior  notwithstanding  the 
prevalence  of  the  round  arch  throughout  the  greater  part  of 
the  design.  The  piers  are  formed  like  those  of  San  Petronio 
of  Bologna,  with  the  addition  of  a  third  member  in  the  vaulting 
system  of  supports  to  carry  the  longitudinal  rib.  The  abut- 
ments are  again  of  the  usual  Italian  type  —  consisting  of  cross- 
walls  over  the  aisles ;  but  here,  as  in  San  Petronio,  they  break 
through  the  aisle  roof.     They  do  not,  however,  reach  so  high 


VIII  rOINlED    CONSTRUCTION  IN  ITALY  277 

against  the  clerestory  wall ;  and  the  thrusts  of  the  vaults  are 
further  secured  by  tie-rods. 

Hardly  anything  more  nearly  approaching  Gothic  construc- 
tion can  be  found  among  the  monuments  of  Italy.  Some  other 
isolated  Gothic  features  of  a  different  character  from  those 
already  noticed  may,  perhaps,  occur,  and  may  even  be  numer- 
ous. One  instance  worthy  of  notice  occurs  in  the  Church  of 
Sta.  Maria  della  Pieve  in  Arezzo  —  where  on  the  west  side  of 
the  crossing  are  compound  piers  that  have  a  great  deal  of  Gothic 
form,  and  are,  I  believe,  almost  without  a  parallel.  They  now 
carry  pendentives  for  the  support  of  a  dome,  but  they  were 
manifestly  intended  to  support  a  ribbed  groined  vault.  The 
rest  of  the  structure  is  of  a  primitive  basilican  form,  though 
the  great  arches  are  pointed,  and  the  aisles  of  the  choir  are 
vaulted  on  ribs. 

No  consideration  need  be  given  to  the  peculiar  pointed  archi- 
tecture of  Southern  Italy  and  Sicily,  because  the  pointed  arch  as 
used  in  that  architecture  has  no  relation  to  vaulting  save  in  a 
few  exceptional  instances,  as  in  the  apsidal  vaulting  of  the 
Cathedral  of  Naples.  The  great  churches  of  Palermo,  Mon- 
reale,  and  Cefalu  are  basilican  structures  modified  and  embel- 
lished with  elements  derived  from  Byzantine  and  other  Eastern 
sources,  but  without  any  Gothic  features. 

Having  now  considered  the  general  structural  system  of  the 
main  body  of  the  Italian  pointed  edifice,  we  may  before  examin- 
ing the  larger  external  features  next  glance  at  the  characteristic 
forms  of  openings  and  their  relationship  to  the  structure  itself. 
These  openings  are  always  mere  windows  and  doorways  in 
solid  walls.  They  are  naturally  of  small  dimensions  because 
the  retention  of  Roman  and  Romanesque  principles  of  con- 
struction renders  comparatively  unbroken  walls  necessary  for 
the  stability  of  the  edifice ;  and  also  because  the  sunny  climate 
makes  large  openings  undesirable.  In  the  clerestory  the  simple 
oculus  is  very  common  —  as  in  Sta.  Maria  Novella  and  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Florence.  A  narrow  pointed  window  is  also  frequently 
employed  ;  but  a  window  large  enough  for  tracery  is  rare.  The 
clerestory  openings  of  Siena  are  exceptionally  large,  though 
they  are  still  small  as  compared  with  the  wall  areas  in  which 
they  are  set.  In  other  situations  the  openings  may  be  larger. 
When  large  enough  to  admit  of  it,  they  are  divided  by  one  or 


278  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

more  mullions  and  with  simple  geometric  tracery,  or  with 
pierced  tympanums  like  those  of  the  early  French  Gothic.  It 
is  curious,  however,  that  the  pierced  tympanum  does  not  usually 
occur  in  the  early  work  in  Italy,  but  is  frequent  in  the  later 
buildings  —  as  in  the  chapels  of  the  aisles  of  San  Petronio  of 
Bologna.  It  is  sometimes  very  elaborate,  with  a  multiplicity 
of  openings  enriched  by  cuspings  and  featherings,  and  with  its 
solid  surfaces  embossed  with  relief  carvings  —  as  in  the  unusu- 
ally large  openings  of  Or  San  Michele  in  Florence.  These  open- 
ings show  the  same  curious  propensity  for  mixing  Romanesque 
and  Gothic  elements  that  we  have  found  so  often  in  the  larger 
features  of  the  Italian  buildings.  They  are  round  arched,  with 
subordinate  arches  and  circles  composing  a  simulated  tracery 
wrought  in  relief  on  the  solid  tympanum  surfaces  —  the  pointed 
arch  occurring  only  where  it  is  produced  by  the  intersection  of 
round  ones.  Substantially  the  same  treatment  occurs  in  the 
tympanum  of  the  great  opening  of  the  top  story  of  the  Floren- 
tine Campanile  (though  the  main  arch  is  pointed  here),  and  in 
many  other  places.  In  some  of  the  earlier  Italian  buildings  we 
find,  as  before  remarked  (p.  271),  true  Gothic  tracery  of  a  simple 
type  —  as  in  the  apse  of  the  Cathedral  of  Arezzo. 

Large  wheel  windows  with  tracery  in  west  ends  and  transept 
ends  are  not  often  met  with  in  Italy.  A  fine  one  of  consider- 
able size  occurs  in  the  west  front  of  Fossanova,  dating  from  the 
thirteenth  century,  and  is  thoroughly  French  in  character.  A 
still  larger  one,  now  without  any  dividing  members,  forms  a 
part  of  the  west  front  of  Siena,  and  there  is  a  smaller  one  with 
tracery  in  Orvieto.  But  such  openings  are  rare  on  a  large  scale 
in  Italian  pointed  buildings.^ 

The  west  fronts  of  Cistercian  buildings  in  Italy,  like  their 
Burgundian  prototypes,  usually  conform  in  outline  with  the 
buildings  themselves  —  as  in  Fossanova  and  Casamari.  The 
west  front  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi  follows  the  form  of  the 
simple  interior  which  it  encloses ;  but  in  that  of  St.  Francis  of 
Bologna  we  get  an  early  instance  of  the  independent  treatment 
of  the  facade  which  became  a  marked  characteristic  of  Italian 

1  A  large  wheel  occurs  in  the  west  front  of  the  basilican  Romanesque  church  of 
San  Zenone  in  Verona,  and  remarkal^le  ones  are  found  in  the  facades  of  Sta.  Maria  and 
San  Pietro,  of  Toscanella.  But  it  seems  impossible  that  these  should  have  been  pro- 
duced at  the  early  periods  to  which  these  buildings  are  usually  assigned. 


VIII  POINTED    CONSTRUCTION  IN  ITALY  279 

work  in  the  fourteenth  century.  In  this  composition  the  division 
of  the  interior  into  nave  and  aisles  is  truly  marked  by  buttresses  ; 
but  the  outline  of  the  roof  is  not  followed  —  the  walls  of  the 
lateral  bays  being  carried  up  above  the  aisle  roofs  as  mere 
screens  which  terminate  in  the  sloping  lines  of  the  roof  of  the 
nave  as  if  the  building  had  no  clerestory.  A  characteristic 
instance  of  later  design  in  this  part  of  the  building  is  that 
of  the  west  front  of  Siena.  The  true  lines  of  the  roof  are 
entirely  ignored  in  this  design.  They  are  in  reality  of  low 
pitch ;  and  the  lean-to  roofs  of  the  aisles  have  their  eaves  on  a 
level  with  the  horizontal  string-course  which  forms  the  cornice 
of  the  ground  story  of  the  facade.  Hence  the  greater  part  of 
the  ornamental  arcades  in  the  side  bays  over  this  string,  to- 
gether with  the  deep  gables  which  surmount  them,  and  a 
considerable  part  of  the  great  central  square  compartment  with 
its  steep  gable,  are  purely  ornamental  erections  corresponding 
to  nothing  in  the  building  itself.  The  west  end  of  Orvieto  and 
of  Sta.  Croce  of  Florence  have  a  similar  character.  The  rak- 
ing cornices  of  the  facade  of  the  Frari  in  Venice  follow  the  lines 
of  the  roofs ;  but  the  composition  is  spoiled  by  the  meaningless 
ornamental  additions  built  over  them. 

Perhaps  the  facade  in  which  the  most  singular  contradic- 
tion of  the  form  of  the  building  to  which  it  is  attached  is 
found  is  that  of  the  very  small  Church  of  Sta.  Maria  della 
Spina  at  Pisa.  In  this  case  the  designers  appear  to  have 
gone  as  far  as  possible  out  of  their  way  to  produce  an  incon- 
gruous front.  The  building  has  no  internal  divisions.  It 
is  a  plain  rectangular  enclosure  covered  with  a  single-trussed 
timber  roof  of  very  low  pitch.  The  architects  have  enclosed 
this  simple  structure  with  three  steep  gables  arranged  in  the 
most  childish  manner.  It  is,  in  fact,  an  absolutely  illogical 
arrangement.  The  lower  part  of  the  front  is  treated  so  as 
to  suggest  an  interior  of  two  aisles  of  equal  width  by  the 
insertion  of  a  central  pier,  and  over  each  of  the  divisions 
thus  formed  they  have  placed  a  gable.  Then,  rising  from 
between  these,  a  third  gable  is  set  with  its  slanting  sides  inter- 
secting those  of  the  other  two.  The  true  line  of  the  roof  may 
be  seen  behind  the  false  gables  rising  between  their  intersec- 
tions. It  is  proper  to  say  that  this  facade  is  not  a  design  of 
one  epoch,  but  it  is  made   up  of   parts  that  were  wrought  at 


28o  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

different  times  from  1230  to  1304.^  It  is,  however,  a  fair  illus- 
tration of  the  Italian  inaptness  in  pointed  design. 

The  east  ends  of  the  Italian  pointed  churches  have  a  variety  of 
forms.  In  buildings  of  the  thirteenth  century  the  apse  is  some- 
times, as  we  have  seen  in  St.  Francis  of  Assisi,  of  a  polygonal 
plan  and  a  more  or  less  Gothic  form,  though  it  rarely  has  a 
completely  Gothic  structural  system.  It  is  almost  invariably  a 
heavy  walled  structure,  though  the  general  effect  is  in  some 
cases  lightened  by  the  insertion  of  large  openings  with  mullions 
and  simple  tracery.  The  apsidal  aisle  is  very  rare,  and  where 
it  occurs,  as  in  St.  Francis  of  Bologna,  the  work  points  to  a 
direct  French  influence.  In  some  polygonal  apses,  even  of  a 
late  epoch,  as  those  of  the  Cathedral  of  Florence,  the  elevation 
consists  of  solid  walls  roofed  with  semidomes  on  ancient  princi- 
ples. The  square  east  end  is  very  common,  as  in  most  of  the 
Cistercian  churches  —  St.  Andrea  of  Vercelli,  Sta.  Maria  Novella, 
the  Cathedral  of  Prato,  and  the  Cathedral  of  Orvieto.  In  a 
few  instances,  as  in  St.  Andrea  of  Vercelli,  this  square  east 
end  has  pronounced  angle  buttresses  with  set-offs  of  more  or  less 
Gothic  character;  but  more  commonly,  as  in  Sta.  Maria  Novella, 
the  buttresses  are  nothing  more  than  Romanesque  pilaster 
strips. 

Transept  ends  are  almost  invariably  square  with  plain  walls 
and  pilaster  strips,  as  in  St.  Francis  of  Bologna,  Sta.  Maria 
Novella,  and  the  Cathedral  of  Siena. 

The  towers  of  the  Italian  pointed  style  do  not  differ  materi- 
ally in  structural  character  from  those  of  the  Lombard  Roman- 
esque architecture  from  which  they  are  mainly  derived.  They 
are  rarely  incorporated  with  the  church  itself,  and  never  form 
parts  of  the  western  facade  as  do  the  towers  of  churches  north 
of  the  Alps.  At  Prato  the  tower,  a  particularly  fine  one,  rises 
through  the  wall  of  the  south  aisle  close  to  the  transept ;  but 
generally,  as  at  Florence,  it  is  placed  at  a  short  distance  from 
the  west  facade.  In  form  it  is  a  plain  storied  edifice  rising  with- 
out set-offs  to  a  considerable  height,  and  covered  with  a  low 
pyramidal  roof  of  timber.  In  a  few  cases  a  steep  pyramid  of 
stone  takes  the  place  of  the  low  timber  roof,  as  in  the  tower 
of  Sta.  Maria  Novella  (Fig.  138),  and  that  of  the  Badia  of  Flor- 

^  Cf.  Les  Monuments  de  Pise,  p.  99.      Par  M.  Georges  Rohault  de  Fleury.     Paris,  1886. 


VIII 


POINTED   CONSTRUCTION  IN  ITALY 


281 


ence.  The  magnificent  campanile  of  the  Cathedral  of  Florence, 
though  unique  in  richness  and  elegance,  may  be  taken  as  a 
characteristic  example  of  the  general  structural  form.  It  has 
five  stories,  of  finely  proportioned  heights,  marked  by  string- 
courses, of  somewhat  Gothic  profile,  which  ^ 
pass  around  vertical  buttresses  of  octagonal 
section  placed  at  the  angles  and  reaching 
from  the  ground  to  the  coping.  The  base- 
ment story  is  a  little  larger  on  plan  than  the 
stories  above  it,  and  thus  forms  an  apparent 
foundation  without  which  so  high  a  structure 
would  appear  insecurely  based.  The  story 
next  above,  which  is  of  considerably  greater 
height  and  forms  a  secondary  foundation, 
has  two  pilaster  strips  on  each  face  between 
the  angle  buttresses.  The  upper  three  stories 
are  proportioned  in  increasing  heights,  and 
are  pierced  on  each  side  with  beautifully  de- 
signed pointed  openings,  each  divided  by  a 
mullion  and  tracery  and  crowned  with  a 
crocketed  gable  of  great  elegance.  On  the 
third  and  fourth  stories  these  openings  are 
in  pairs,  while  on  the  top  story  one  opening  of 
very  large  size,  with  two  mullions  and  richer 
tracery,  occupies  each  face.  The  whole  mon- 
ument is  crowned  with  a  deep  and  elaborate 
cornice  carried  on  corbels,  and  is  covered  by 
a  low  pyramidal  timber  roof.  A  steep  pyra- 
mid of  stone,  like  that  of  Sta.  Maria  Novella, 
is  supposed,  however,  to  have  been  originally 
intended.  The  universal  admiration  which 
this  tower  has  called  forth  is  no  more  than 
just;  but  it  will  be  readily  seen  that  such  a 
structure  is  different  in  character  from  a 
Gothic  one  —  although,  as  we  have  seen,  the 
tower  necessarily  embodies  less  of  what  is 
peculiar  to  Gothic  construction  than  any  other  part  of  the  Gothic 
monument. 

The  lack  of  a  logical  constructive  sense  among  the  Italians 
is  especially  marked  in  those  square  towers  of  Northern  Italy 


r^fsNm, 


Fig.  138.  — Sta.  Maria 
Novella. 


j82 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


which  are  crowned  by  octagonal  lanterns.  Of  these  the  tower 
of  the  Scaligeri  at  Verona  (Fig.  139),  and  that  of  St.  Andrea  of 
Mantua,  are  conspicuous  examples.  In  these  designs  no  at- 
tempt is  made  to  effect  an  adjustment  of  the  two  forms  such 
as  to  make  them  appear  like  parts  of  one  whole.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  tower  is  crowned  with  a  pronounced  bracketed  cornice, 
and  the  lantern  rises  abruptly  from  the  square  area,  leaving  large 
spaces  at  the  angles  wholly  unoccupied.  Anything  like  the 
transitional  features  which  in  Gothic  art 
give  the  sense  of  organic  unity  between 
the  tower  and  its  superstructure  is  hardly 
ever  found  in  Italy.  In  a  few  in.stances, 
however,  an  attempt  to  produce  a  more 
satisfactory  arrangement  is  made,  as  in 
the  conical  spire  that  crowns  the  square 
tower  of  primitive  Lombard  form  which  is 
incorporated  with  the  Church  of  San  Fermo 
Maggiore  of  Verona.  But  the  diminutive 
cones,  mounted  on  square  bases,  which  are 
set  on  the  angles  of  this  tower,  though 
they  improve  the  otherwise  bald  composi- 
tion, have  little  organic  relationship  to  the 
spire.  A  comparison  of  this  work  with 
the  old  tower  and  spire  of  Chartres  (Fig. 
100,  p.  186)  will  show  the  childishness  of 
Italian  art  in  the  shaping  and  adjustment 
of  such  features.  The  true  Gothic  spire 
was  never  constructed  in  Italy.  It  is  a 
feature  that  would  not  accord  with  the 
general  character  of  the  Italian  pointed 
building. 

From  what  has  already  been  said,  it  will 
be  seen  that  the  general  external  form  of  the  Italian  pointed 
church  is  substantially  like  that  of  the  basilican  Romanesque 
edifice.  It  has  a  simple  outline,  unbroken  by  features  such  as 
pertain  to  the  Gothic  of  the  North.  The  steep  gables  and  pin- 
nacles often  added  to  the  facades,  as  in  Orvieto  and  Siena,  have 
no  logical  meaning,  since  they  correspond  to  nothing  in  the  real 
form  of  the  building.  In  some  instances  such  features  were,  in 
childish  imitation  of  the  Gothic,  added  to  other  parts  of  the  Italian 


Fig.  139. — Tower  of  the 
Scaligeri. 


VIII  POINTED   CONSTRUCTION  IN  ITALY  283 

exterior  —  as  in  the  gables  and  pinnacles  set  around  the  apse  of 
S.  Fermo  of  Verona,  and  along  the  sides  of  the  Spina  in  Pisa. 
In  S.  Fermo  the  pinnacles  do,  indeed,  crown  a  series  of  but- 
tresses, and  may  therefore  be  regarded  as  having  the  same 
function  that  they  have  in  a  Gothic  building ;  though  with  the 
heavy  Italian  construction  they  can  hardly  be  needed.  But  in  the 
Spina  they  are  useless,  since  the  church  is  not  vaulted.  These 
elaborate  pinnacles  set  at  intervals  along  its  walls  are  therefore 
inappropriate.  The  broken  outline  and  multiplied  upright  fea- 
tures of  a  Gothic  cathedral  like  Reims  or  Amiens  are  the  natural 
expression  of  the  Gothic  structural  system.  To  associate  such 
elements  with  buildings  of  the  Italian  type  is  to  violate  the 
principles  of  architectural  design,  and  to  produce  incongruous 
effects. 

The  characteristics  of  the  pointed  architecture  of  Italy  are 
fully  enough  set  forth  by  the  monuments  already  noticed. 
While  there  are  many  minor  local  variations  of  type,  the  same 
general  absence  of  really  Gothic  modes  of  construction  and  of 
Gothic  form  prevails  from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other. 
The  only  conspicuous  exception  is  that  of  the  Cathedral  of 
Milan — a  design  of  late  German  character  which  is  but  a 
travesty  of  Gothic.  From  the  time  of  the  building  of  St. 
Francis  of  Assisi  to  that  of  the  building  of  San  Petronio  of 
Bologna,  a  period  of  nearly  a  century  and  a  half  had  elapsed 
without  bringing  about  any  material  departure  from  the  struc- 
tural principles  of  ancient  times.  Structural  invention  was  not 
a  gift  of  the  Italian  people,  who  were  in  other  respects  so 
richly  endowed  with  artistic  powers.  After  the  fourteenth 
century  the  elements  borrowed  from  the  Gothic  fell  rapidly 
into  disuse,  and  the  Italians  returned  to  modes  of  composition 
that  were  more  congenial  and  more  suitable  to  them. 


CHAPTER   IX 

POINTED   CONSTRUCnON   IN   SPAIN 

No  important  native  architecture  appears  to  have  existed  in 
Spain  during  the  early  Middle  Ages.  Extensive  Roman  monu- 
ments had  been  erected  there,  as  in  Southern  Gaul,  in  more 
ancient  times,  and  the  exotic  Moorish  art  had,  at  a  later  period, 
reached  a  high  degree  of  development  in  the  southern  portions 
of  the  peninsula ;  but  in  the  Christian  north  no  architectural 
works  of  consequence,  subsequent  to  those  of  the  Roman  epoch, 
arose  until  late  in  the  eleventh  century,  when  a  Romanesque  art 
of  great  excellence,  embodying  features  that  are  common  in  the 
contemporaneous  monuments  of  those  provinces  of  Gaul  which 
lie  nearest  to  the  Pyrenees,  took  form.  During  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury a  robust  type  of  pointed  architecture  was  introduced,  the 
main  characteristics  of  which  resemble  those  of  the  same  period 
in  Burgundy  and  Aquitaine,  associated  with  features  derived 
from  the  Romanesque  of  Spain  itself,  and  frequently  including 
the  dome  on  pendentives  over  the  crossing  which  had  been 
common,  also,  in  the  churches  of  Southern  Gaul. 

Among  the  most  important,  and  among  the  earliest,  Spanish 
pointed  buildings  of  the  twelfth  century  is  the  old  Cathedral  of 
Salamanca.  The  system  of  the  nave  of  this  church  (Fig.  140) 
corresponds  closely  in  its  general  form  with  contemporaneous 
Burgundian  design  ;  though  it  has  a  massiveness  throughout 
that  is  extraordinary,  and  which  exceeds  even  that  of  the  most 
ponderous  Lombard  constructions.  The  vaulting  is  quadripartite 
in  wide  oblong  compartments  on  transverse  and  diagonal  ribs ; 
but  without  longitudinal  ribs.  The  ribs  are  pointed,  and  are  of 
enormous  strength, —  the  transverse  ribs  being  of  two  orders 
of  square  section,  while  the  diagonals  are  profiled  with  a  roll 
moulding  on  each  edge,  and  a  gorge  with  lateral  fillets  on  the 
soffit  between  them.  The  vault  surfaces  are,  owing  to  the  great 
massiveness  of  the  ribs,  comparatively  small  in  area;  but  they 

284 


CHAP.  IX 


POINTED   CONSTRUCTION  IN  SPAIN 


285 


appear  to  have  something  of  the  Gothic  shape.     The  masonry 
of  this  vaulting  is,  for  the  most  part,  like  that  of  contemporane- 


Fic  140.  —  System  of  Salamanca. 

ous  French  work  —  the  courses  running  in  the  direction  of  the 
long  and  short  axes   respectively,  and   being  roughly  tapered 


286  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

and  more  or  less  gore-shaped.  But  in  some  of  the  compart- 
ments the  cupola  form  is  given  to  some  of  the  cells,  with  the 
courses  arranged  in  concentric  horizontal  lines.  It  is  curious 
that  these  two  forms  should  thus  occur,  as  they  do,  even  in  the 
same  vault  compartments.  In  the  transept  one  whole  com- 
partment has  the  cupola  form,  with  diagonal  ribs  of  an  earlier 
type.  The  pier  supports  rise  from  the  pavement,  and  consist  of 
a  heavy  pilaster  strip  with  an  engaged  column,  which  together 
carry  the  double  transverse  rib,  and  a  smaller  shaft  on  each  side 
to  carry  the  diagonal  ribs.  This  secondary  shaft  is  generally 
wanting  in  the  contemporaneous  Burgundian  architecture ;  and 
the  whole  vaulting  group  here  strongly  resembles  those  of  the 
early  Gothic  of  the  Ile-de-France.  The  capitals,  also,  have  much 
the  character  of  the  early  French  Gothic.  The  diagonal  ribs 
are  not  well  adjusted  to  their  supports  ;  they  are  too  bulky  to 
be  gathered  upon  the  capitals  of  the  shafts,  and  these  capitals 
are  set  square  with  the  wall,  and  hence  do  not  offer  properly 
shaped  beds  for  ribs  of  square  section  in  the  diagonal  position. 
Corbels  set  diagonally  are  therefore  interposed.  The  vaulting 
members  are,  in  fact,  so  heavy  as  compared  with  the  size  of  the 
supports  as  to  suggest  that  they  may  not  be  parts  of  one  original 
design.  Yet  they  are  in  other  respects  logically  related  to  each 
other,  and  they  have  the  appearance  of  being  contemporaneous 
work. 

A  noticeable  peculiarity  of  the  composition  is  the  great 
relative  height  of  the  ground  story,  which  crowds  the  triforium 
and  clerestory  into  a  comparatively  narrow  space.  This  is  not, 
as  in  Italy,  due  to  a  wide  spacing  of  the  piers.  The  spacings 
from  centre  to  centre  are,  indeed,  considerable,  but  the  great 
bulk  of  the  piers  is  such  as  to  narrow  the  spans  of  the  arches 
so  that  there  was  no  constructive  necessity  for  the  high  level 
to  which  they  reach.  It  is  the  great  height  of  the  ground-story 
pier  itself  that  makes  the  arch  so  high.  This  high  ground-story 
pier  is  of  frequent  occurrence  in  the  subsequent  pointed  archi- 
tecture of  Spain.  The  apse  is  Romanesque  of  the  type  that 
was  common  in  Southern  Gaul,  and  is  covered  with  a  primitive 
semidome. 

Salamanca  has  a  dome  at  the  crossing  which  is  worthy  of 
special  consideration  here.  The  dome  as  such  is  not,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  a  Gothic  feature  —  or  a  feature  which  can 


IX  POINTED   CONSTRUCTION  IN  SPAIN  287 

be  developed  in  a  Gothic  direction ;  but  this  is  not  a  common 
dome :  it  is  a  structure  which  approaches  the  nature  of  a  Gothic 
vault.  It  is  carried  on  pendentives  supported  by  pointed  arches 
like  those  of  St.  Front  of  Perigueux.  It  does  not,  however, 
like  the  domes  of  Perigueux,  and  like  Byzantine  domes  in 
general,  rest  directly  on  the  pendentives.  A  vertical  structure 
is  interposed,  consisting  of  two  stages  of  arcading  with  sixteen 
engaged  columns  embracing  both  stages.  Moreover,  the  dome 
itself  is  not  a  simple  hemispherical,  or  oval,  shell  of  masonry  ; 
but,  like  the  vertical  supporting  drum,  it  is  an  organized  structure 
and  is  composed  of  a  system  of  converging  ribs  springing  from 
the  engaged  columns  and  dividing  the  vault  into  gore-shaped  cells 
which  are  enclosed  with  arched  courses  of  masonry  somewhat  in 
the  manner  of  primitive  Gothic  apsidal  vaulting.  The  outside 
covering  (Fig.  141)  is  of  a  monumental  character,  and  of  curious 
form.  It  may  be  roughly  described  as  an  obtuse  conoid  with  a 
curved  outline  having  eight  crocketed  ribs  rising  from  the  base 
to  the  apex.  The  plan  at  the  base  appears  to  be  almost  circular, 
but  the  upper  two-thirds  of  the  elevation  seem  to  become  flat- 
sided  between  the  ribs  so  as  to  give  an  octagonal  section.  The 
outlines,  both  of  plan  and  elevation,  have  a  good  deal  of  irregu- 
larity, such  as  is  common,  and  not  unpleasing,  in  much  mediaeval 
work.  The  vertical  substructure  appears  to  be  a  polygon  of 
sixteen  sides,  and  is  treated  in  a  manner  that  produces  at  once 
an  effective  system  of  abutments,  and  a  noble  architectural 
design.  From  the  four  angles  of  the  square  of  the  crossing 
rise  four  round  turrets  engaged  with  the  drum,  and  reaching 
in  two  stories  to  its  cornice.  These,  are  covered  with  conical 
roofs  of  stone.  On  the  centre  of  each  side  of  the  square  is  set  a 
projecting  bay  of  two  stories,  each  having  a  round  arch  of  two 
shafted  orders.  This  is  surmounted  by  a  rectangular  mass  of 
wall  with  a  diminutive  blind  arcade  of  three  arches  on  its  face, 
and  over  this  is  a  gable.  The  eight  remaining  sides  of  the 
polygon  have  each  a  round-arched  shafted  opening,  and  in  each 
of  the  reentrant  angles  where  the  turrets  join  the  drum  is  set 
a  stout  buttress  column. 

Now  it  is  remarkable  that  this  composition  as  a  whole  is  a 
modified  reproduction  of  those  early  Gothic  spires  which  had 
been  developed  in  the  north  of  France  soon  after  the  middle  of 
the  twelfth  century.   The  lantern  of  Salamanca  has  the  same  prin- 


288 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


cipal  features,  arranged  in  the  same  manner,  that  compose  the 
old  spire  of  the  Cathedral  of  Chartres ;  the  principal  modification 
made  by  the  architect  of  the  Spanish  design  being  the  short- 
ening of  the  proportions  of  all  the  parts  that  rise  above  the 
cornice  of  the  drum  to  adapt  them  to  the  form  of  a  domical 
structure  on  a  large  base.  The  drum  itself  answers  to  the 
vertical  octagon  (Fig.  lOO,  p.  i86)  on  which  the  spire  of  Chartres 


Fig.  141.  —  Lantern  of  Salamanca. 

is  set,  the  turrets  correspond  to  the  corner  pinnacles,  and  the 
gabled  bays  to  the  same  features,  in  the  French  design.  The 
greater  richness  of  ornamental  details  in  the  Spanish  lantern 
would  seem  to  indicate  a  later  date  than  the  twelfth  century. 
Crockets  on  spires  were  hardly  used  in  France  before  the 
thirteenth  century,  and  it  does  not  seem  likely  that  such  details 
could  have  been  introduced  in   Spain  at  an  earlier  time;    for 


POINTED    CONSTRUCTION  IN  SPAIN 


289 


there  is  no  evidence  of  the  existence  of  an  independent  and  pro- 
gressive school  of  designers  in  Spain  during  the  Middle  Ages. 
The  round  arches  which  prevail  throughout  the  composition 
show  a  conservative  spirit,  since  the  pointed  form  is  used  exclu- 
sively in  the  structural  arches  of  the  building  which  this  lantern 
crowns.  It  is  very  possible  that  the  lantern  was  begun  in  the 
twelfth  century  and  finished  in  the  thirteenth  after  crockets 
had  come  into  use  in  the  Gothic  of  France. 

The  nave  of  San  Vincent  of  Avila  has  pointed  vaulting  on 
transverse  and  diagonal  ribs,  which 
resembles  the  vaulting  of  Salamanca. 
The  same  excessive  heaviness  of  con- 
struction is  noticeable  here  except  in 
the  transverse  ribs  —  which  are  of  a 
single  order,  and  are  no  larger  than  the 
diagonals.  The  diagonals  themselves 
are,  however,  more  massive  than  those 
of  Salamanca,  so  that  the  whole  rib 
system  has  an  unusually  ponderous 
effect.  The  vertical  system  of  San 
Vincent  dates  from  the  early  part 
of  the  twelfth  century,  and  is  Bur- 
gundian  Romanesque  in  character. 
Its  piers  are  composed  like  those  of 
Vezelay,  having  a  vigorous  pilaster 
with  an  engaged  shaft  rising  from 
the  pavement.  The  adjustment  of 
the  lateral  capitals  to  the  diagonal 
ribs  (Fig.  142)  is  happily  managed  in 
an  unusual  way  by  shaping  their  bells 
so  that  while  fitting  the  square  section 
of  the  pilaster  their  abaci  are  set  di- 
agonally. These  capitals  may  be  contemporaneous  with  the 
vaulting,  which  probably  dates  from  the  latter  part  of  the 
twelfth  century.  The  vault  thrusts  are  met  by  strong  pilaster 
buttresses  which  rise  through  the  triforium  against  the  heavy 
clerestory  wall. 

A  different  type  of  early  pointed  design  in  Spain  is  af- 
forded by  the  Church  of  Santa  Maria  de  Irache  near  Estella, 
in  the  province'  of   Navarre.     The  vaulting   here   has  pointed 


Fig.  142. 


290  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

transverse  and  diagonal  ribs.  The  transverse  ribs  are  very 
wide  and  are  of  a  single  order  of  plain  square  section,  while  the 
diagonal  ribs  are  lighter  and  spring  from  a  little  lower  level. 
As  in  the  buildings  before  mentioned,  there  are  no  longitudinal 
ribs.  The  pier  supports  rise  from  the  pavement  and  consist  of 
coupled  round  shafts  against  a  pilaster  for  the  transverse  rib, 
and  a  smaller  shaft  for  each  of  the  diagonals.  The  supports 
are  well  adjusted  to  the  ribs  of  the  vaulting — -the  capitals  of 
the  lateral  shafts  being  set  obliquely  in  conformity  with  the 
direction  of  the  diagonals,  and  the  abaci  fitting  well  their  re- 
spective loads.  There  are  no  triforium  openings,  and  the 
clerestory  has  a  blank  wall  space  wholly  embraced  by  the 
longitudinal  arch  of  the  vault.  The  ground-story  archivolts 
are  of  one  order  without  any  profiling,  and,  like  the  transverse 
ribs,  they  are  carried  by  coupled  shafts  against  a  pilaster. 
These  coupled  shafts  are  of  frequent  occurrence  in  the  archi- 
tecture of  Southern  and  Central  Gaul,  the  regions  which,  as  we 
have  seen,  seem  to  have  furnished  the  principal  models  to  Spain 
in  the  Middle  Ages.^  While  the  nave  of  Santa  Maria  de  Irache 
has  thus  a  primitive  pointed  organic  system,  it  has  not  the  least 
organic  character  externally.  The  clerestory  wall  is  entirely 
unbroken  by  functional  members.  The  apse  of  this  church,  like 
those  of  Salamanca  and  San  Vincent,  is  of  a  primitive  Roman- 
esque type  with  a  heavy  wall  and  a  plain  semidome.  It  is  clearly 
of  earlier  date  than  the  internal  system  of  the  nave ;  and  it  may 
be  that  the  apses  of  all  these  early  pointed  buildings  are  con- 
siderably older  than  the  naves  to  which  they  are  now  attached. 
The  cathedrals  of  Lerida,  Tudela,  and  Tarragona,  and  the 
Abbey  Church  of  Veruela,  are  nearly  contemporaneous  with 
the  foregoing  buildings.  They  have,  also,  substantially  the 
same  structural  character  —  with  pointed  ribbed  vaulting  and 
massive  piers  functionally  adjusted  to  the  vaults.  Coupled 
vaulting  shafts,  like  those  of  Santa  Maria  de  Irache,  occur  in 
all  of  them,  the  walls  are  heavy,  the  vault  thrusts  are  met  by 
pier  buttresses  only,  and  the  external  openings  are  generally 
round  arched.  Two  of  these  buildings,  Tudela  and  Veruela, 
have,  however,  features  that  are  unusual  in  the  early  pointed 

^Coupled  vaulting  shafts  occur  as  far  north  as  Poitou  —  as  in  the  nave  of 
Fontevrault;  and  they  are  not  uncommon  in  early  Norman  churches  —  as  in  the 
extremities  of  the  Abbaye-aux-Dames  at  Caen,  and  the  nave  of  Gournay  near  Beauvais. 


IX  POINTED    CONSTRUCTION  IN  SPAIN  291 

buildings  of  Spain ;  namely,  apsidal  vaults  which  have  the  primi- 
tive Gothic  form.i  jj^  Tudela  the  apsidal  wall  is  of  the  plainest 
Romanesque  form,  but  it  has  four  engaged  vaulting  shafts  from 
which  as  many  ribs  spring  and  converge  on  the  crown  of  the 
easternmost  transverse  arch.  On  these  ribs  the  vault  cells  are 
turned  in  the  Gothic  manner.  There  are  no  wall  ribs,  however, 
but  the  end  arches  are  stilted  against  the  wall,  and  their  crowns 
reach  to  nearly  two-thirds  of  the  vertical  height  of  the  vault. 
No  openings  occur  in  the  upper  wall,  and  the  general  effect, 
except  in  the  vault  itself,  is  necessarily  very  different  from  that 
even  of  the  most  primitive  French  Gothic  apse. 

The  apse  of  Veruela  has  an  aisle  with  a  pointed  arcade 
and  compound  piers  with  vaulting  shafts  that  rise  from  the 
pavement.  The  vault  itself  is  like  that  of  Tudela,  but  the 
wall  above  the  arcade  is  of  the  most  ponderous  character, 
with  no  openings  in  the  upper  part  of  the  clerestory.  A  very 
small,  but  widely  splayed,  round-arched  opening  is  set,  how- 
ever, in  each  bay  about  midway  between  the  ground-story 
arches  and  the  arches  of  the  vault.  Apsidal  vaults  of  so  much 
Gothic  character  as  these  appear  to  be  rare  at  this  time.  It  is 
noticeable  that  the  early  organic  pointed  systems  of  Spain  are 
not  generally  carried  out  in  the  apses ;  and,  so  far  as  I  know, 
they  are  never  any  more  fully  carried  out  than  in  these  cases. 

The  nave  of  the  Church  of  Las  Huelgas  of  Burgos,  which 
was  begun  in  11 80,  has  a  less  organic  internal  system.  It  has 
regular  quadripartite  vaulting  on  a  full  set  of  ribs,  but  with 
no  appreciable  stilting  or  narrowing  of  the  vaulting  conoid 
against  the  pier.  The  surfaces  are  slightly  domical,  though 
the  masonry  of  the  lateral  cells  is  nearly  horizontal  and  in 
almost  parallel  courses.  Single  vaulting  shafts,  rising  from 
the  ground-story  imposts,  carry  the  heavy  transverse  ribs.  The 
longitudinal  ribs  and  the  diagonals  interpenetrate  and  rest  on 
a  corbel  placed  just  above  the  vaulting  capitals.  The  great 
archivolts  are  of  two  orders,  of  which  the  lower  one  has 
a  plain  square  section,  while  the  other  is  simply  moulded 
with  a  roll  and  a  gorge.  No  triforium  has  place  in  the 
scheme,  and  the  clerestory  is  heavily  walled  in,  and  has  a 
narrow,    round-headed    opening.       Outside   the    clerestory    has 

1 1  gather  the  above  account  of  Lerida,  Tudela,  Tarragona,  and  Veruela  from 
Street's  Gothic  Architecture  in  Spain.     London,   1869. 


292  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

a  plain  wall,  with  pier  buttresses  which  terminate  far  below 
the  cornice. 

It  will  be  seen  that  buildings  like  the  foregoing,  while 
having  some  of  the  features  of  the  transitional  Gothic,  are  in 
reality  little  removed  in  character  from  Romanesque  works. 
They  do  not  exhibit  the  signs  of  a  growing  organic  develop- 
ment. We  do  not  find  in  them  those  experimental  innovations 
and  those  awkward  adjustments  which  betoken  an  original 
creative  spirit.  The  earliest  pointed  and  ribbed  vaulting  in 
Spain  is  executed  with  a  sureness  of  knowledge  and  a  degree 
of  mechanical  skill  which  seem  to  show  that  the  builders  had 
been  instructed  and  were  working  under  the  guidance  of  well- 
known  models.  Evidences  of  original,  artistic,  and  inventive 
capacity  are  not,  indeed,  wanting ;  but  this  does  not  act  inde- 
pendently in  the  Gothic  direction.  It  is  chiefly  manifest  in 
effective  architectural  composition  of  a  kind  which  does  not 
involve  any  fundamental  structural  novelty  of  design.  The 
nearest  approach  to  such  novelty,  so  far  as  I  know,  occurs  in 
the  lantern  of  Salamanca.  But  even  here  the  designer  does 
no  more  structurally  than  to  adapt  members  and  adjustments, 
which  had  been  invented  elsewhere,  to  a  new  situation.  This 
lantern,  as  we  have  seen,  is  composed  after  the  manner  of  an 
early  French  spire,  and  its  vault  is  merely  in  some  measure 
like  two  primitive  Gothic  apses  set  together  and  placed  over 
the  crossing. 

Not  only  do  we  not  find  the  pointed  art  of  Spain  quick 
with  progressive  life,  but  side  by  side  with  more  advanced 
modes  of  design  the  older  ones  survive.  Contemporaneously 
with  such  naves  as  those  of  Salamanca  and  Santa  Maria  de 
Irache,  the  Church  of  N.  Sra.  de  la  Sierra  of  Segovia,  now  in 
ruin,  was  built.  In  this  church,  though  the  pointed  arch  was 
used  throughout  the  interior,  both  nave  and  aisles  were  cov- 
ered with  barrel  vaults  strengthened  by  pointed  transverse 
ribs.  And  the  barrel  vault  occurs  in  some  parts  of  buildings 
which  are,  for  the  most  part,  roofed  with  pointed  groined 
vaults    on    ribs,    as  in   the   transept    of    Tarragona.^      It   thus 

1  Respecting  this  backwardness  of  pointed  architecture  in  Spain,  Mr.  Street 
(^Gothic  Architecture  in  Spain,  p.  354)  remarks,  referring  to  Lerida  Cathedral: 
"The  strange  thing  is  that  in  a  church  which  was  building  between  1203  and  1278 
we  should  find  such  strong  evidences  of  knowledge  of  nothing  but  twelfth-century 


IX  POiAfTED    CONSTRUCTIOiV  hV  SPA/AT  293 

appears  that  the  early  pointed  architecture  of  Spain  was  not 
largely  of  local  growth,  but  that  it  was  almost  wholly  the 
result  of  influences  derived  from  various  parts  of  Gaul.  And 
such  influences  may  be  easily  accounted  for  by  the  generally 
close  relations  which  existed  between  the  two  countries  during 
the  Middle  Ages,  and  by  the  early  incoming  of  the  Cistercian 
and  Cluniac  monastic  orders,  bringing  with  them,  as  they  did 
into  other  countries,  the  architectural  traditions  of  their  origi- 
nal homes. 

Nothing  different  appears  in  the  Christian  architecture  of 
Spain  until  about  the  second  quarter  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
when  the  fully  developed  Gothic  art  of  France  was  reproduced 
in  the  great  cathedrals  of  Burgos,  Toledo,  and  Leon.  The 
sudden  appearance  of  such  buildings  can  be  explained  only 
on  the  supposition  that  they  were  directly  copied  from  the 
contemporaneous  Gothic  cathedrals  of  France,  with  more  or 
less  assistance  from  French   architects  and  French  workmen. 

The  Cathedral  of  Burgos  was  begun  in  the  year  1221,  one 
year  later  than  Amiens.  The  vaulting  of  the  apse  and  choir  is 
altogether  Gothic.  The  crowns  of  the  arches  of  the  clerestory 
openings  reach  far  up  into  the  vault,  and  these  arches  are  of 
two  orders,  of  which  the  uppermost  forms  the  end  rib  of  the 
vault.  The  longitudinal  ribs  of  the  choir  vaulting  are  stilted  to 
a  great  height  —  so  that  this  essential  feature  of  the  Gothic 
system  is  fully  developed.  A  longitudinal  ridge  rib  is,  however, 
included  in  the  framework  of  the  vaulting,  and  a  few  other 
minor  departures  from  pure  Gothic  construction  and  Gothic 
forms  occur  in  the  system.  The  vaulting  shafts  rise  grandly 
from  the  pavement,  and  are,  in  each  pier,  engaged  with  a  large, 
though  not  ill-proportioned,  round  column.  These  shafts  are 
not,  however,  so  closely  grouped  as  the  best  Gothic  form  de- 
mands, and  there  is  some  awkwardness  in  the  adjustment  of  the 
diagonal  rib  and  the  shaft  of  the  longitudinal  rib  together  on 
the  capital  of  the  single  lateral  vaulting  shaft.  This  part  of  the 
system  is  more  logically  arranged  at  Amiens,  where  there  are 
five  vaulting  shafts  compactly  grouped.  The  composition  of 
the  pier  of  Burgos  is  logical  on  the  ground  story,  but  it  is  not 

art;  ...  it  affords  good  evidence  of  the  slow  progress  in  this  part  of  Spain  of  the 
developments  which  had  at  this  time  produced  so  great  a  change  in  the  north  of 
Europe." 


294  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

SO  artistically  effective  as  are  the  finest  French  models ;  for 
the  great  central  columns  are  without  capitals,  and  are  merely 
banded  by  the  mouldings  of  the  abaci  of  the  capitals  which 
crown  the  shorter  shafts  of  the  great  archivolts  and  of  the 
aisle  vaulting,  and  by  a  wider  sculptured  band  reaching  down 
to  the  necking  of  these  smaller  capitals.  Hence  the  great 
compound  capitals  of  the  ground-story  imposts,  which  are 
such  striking  and  beautiful  features  of  the  French  naves,  are 
wanting  here. 

The  clerestory  openings  of  the  straight  sides  of  the  choir  are 
small  for  a  developed  Gothic  building,  leaving  some  wall  space 
on  either  side  and  above  the  clerestory  string,  but  the  triforium 
is  largely  developed  and  peculiar  in  design.  It  consists  of  an 
arcade  of  five  small  arches  spanned  by  a  great  arch,  with  a 
tympanum  which  is  pierced  with  five  trefoiled  circles.  The 
whole  design  somewhat  resembles  the  triforium  of  Bourges,  and 
before  it  was  disfigured  by  the  flamboyant  parapet  and  the 
ornamental  additions  to  the  shafts,  which  now  mask  much  of  its 
beauty,  it  must  have  been  a  stately  and  charming  composition. 
The  apse  is  unfortunately  masked,  below  the  level  of  the  clere- 
story, by  an  incongruous  retable  of  late  and  inelegant  Renais- 
sance design. 

The  external  system  corresponds  to  that  of  the  interior. 
Flying  buttresses  of  good  Gothic  form  (Fig.  143)  rise  over  the 
aisle  roofs ;  but  the  heads  of  their  arches  abut  against  the  un- 
broken clerestory  wall.  The  buttress  system  is  thus  lacking  in 
one  important  member,  namely,  the  pier  buttress. 

The  Cathedral  of  Toledo,  designed  on  a  grand  scale  with 
double  aisles  throughout,  including  the  apse,  is  for  the  most  part 
thoroughly  Gothic  also.  The  choir  is  unusually  short,  having 
only  one  rectangular  bay,  and  the  apse,  in  common  with  the 
apses  of  Burgos  and  Leon,  has  only  five  sides.  This  choir, 
also,  is  so  encumbered  with  an  enormous  retable,  and  with 
screens  and  grilles,  that  the  general  system  cannot  be  seen  as  a 
whole.  The  vaulting  of  the  rectangular  bay  must  have  been 
remodelled  some  time  after  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century. 
It  has  a  different  character  from  the  vaulting  of  the  nave  and 
transepts,  and  from  that  of  its  own  aisles.  It  is  like  English 
pointed  vaulting,  with  Hemes  and  tiercerons,  and  without  any 
stilting  of  the  longitudinal  rib.     But  the  system  of  the  nave  .is 


POINTED    CONSTRUCTION  IN  SPAIN 


295 


quite  Gothic.  Only  the  necessary  ribs  occur  in  its  vaulting,  the 
longitudinal  rib  is  stilted,  and  the  vault  surfaces  have  the  Gothic 
form  perfectly  developed.  The  transverse  ribs  are  heavier  than 
in  French  vaulting  —  a  peculiarity  of  construction  in  Spain  that 


Fig.  143.  —  Burgos. 

we  have  already  noticed  in  the  earlier  pointed  buildings  of  the 
country.  The  piers  are  composed  like  those  of  the  choir  of 
Burgos,  with  the  improvement  of  an  added  shaft  on  each  side 
of  the  ground-story  portions,  for  the   support  of  the  first  order 


«  296  GOTHIC  ARCH/TECTC/RE  chap. 

of  the  double  archivolts  of  the  great  arcade.  The  vaulting  capi- 
tals have  square  abaci  (they  are  round  in  Burgos)  and  are  set 
in  conformity  with  the  directions  of  their  respective  ribs.  The 
introduction  of  the  second  archivolt  shaft  gives  the  ground-story 
impost  a  better  form  than  it  has  in  Burgos.  The  main  aisles, 
like  those  of  Bourges  and  Beauvais,  are  of  great  height,  and 
thus  the  space  usually  occupied  by  the  triforium  and  clerestory 
is  diminished.  No  triforium  occurs  here,  however,  and  the 
clerestory  opening  is  brought  down  to  what,  in  a  French  build- 
ing, would  be  the  triforium  string.  This  opening  is  very  large, 
and  yet  it  does  not  wholly  fill  the  space  between  the  piers  —  a 
considerable  strip  of  wall  running  up  on  either  side  which 
reaches  to  the  crown  of  the  arch.  The  double  buttress  system, 
required  on  account  of  the  double  aisles,  is  of  true  Gothic  form, 
and  it  includes  well-developed  pier  buttresses. 

The  system  of  the  nave  of  Leon  differs  from  the  systems  of 
Burgos  and  Toledo  in  being  much  lighter  throughout.  In  this 
respect  it  is  in  marked  contrast  with  nearly  all  other  Gothic 
buildings  on  Spanish  soil.  The  general  scheme  resembles  that 
of  Amiens.  The  vaulting  has  no  unnecessary  ribs,  its  longitu- 
dinal arches  are  stilted,  and  the  Gothic  twist  is  pronounced. 
The  supporting  shafts  are  slender,  are  compactly  grouped,  and 
the  three  principal  ones  rise  from  the  pavement,  while  those 
of  the  longitudinal  ribs  are  brought  down  to  the  ground-story 
impost.  The  nave  of  Leon  has  single  aisles,  which  are  lower  in 
proportion  than  those  of  Amiens.  The  ground-story  pier  is 
consequently  short,  and  its  core  is  a  massive  round  column  as  in 
Toledo  and  Burgos.  The  triforium  and  clerestory  are  thus 
afforded  ample  height ;  but,  as  in  Amiens,  the  greater  part  of 
this  height  is  taken  by  the  clerestory,  the  opening  of  which 
appears  originally  to  have  filled  the  whole  space  between  the 
piers,  and  its  archivolt  is  both  archivolt  and  longitudinal  vault 
rib.  The  design  follows  Amiens  further  in  having  the  clere- 
story mullions  brought  down  through  the  triforium;  and  the 
triforium  itself  is  composed  as  at  Amiens.  The  spaces  between 
the  piers  and  the  mullions  nearest  to  them  have  been  walled  up 
at  some  period  subsequent  to  that  of  the  original  construction  in 
order  to  strengthen  the  system. ^    The  buttress  system  has  every 

^  The  above  account  of  the  system  of  the  nave  of  Leon  is  drawn  from  an  illustra- 
tion given  by  Street,  Gothic  Architecture  in  Spain,  p.  1 13. 


IX  POINTED    CONSTRUCTION  IN  SPAIN  297 

Gothic  feature,^  and  the  monument  as  a  whole  exhibits  fewer 
structural  departures  from  the  best  French  models  than  either 
Burgos  or  Toledo.  The  apse  is  an  almost  exact  reproduction 
of  the  apse  of  Reims,  which  is  exceptional  among  the  larger 
French  cathedrals  in  having  only  five  (instead  of  seven)  sides, 
except  that  the  abutments  over  the  dividing  walls  of  the  radial 
chapels  are  not  flying  buttresses,  but  are  solid  walls  each 
pierced  with  a  narrow  pointed  arched  opening. 

The  later  pointed  buildings  of  Spain  depart  in  fundamental 
points  from  Gothic  form.  The  changes  introduced  do  not, 
however,  seem  to  be  expressive  of  any  peculiarly  Spanish  artis- 
tic tendencies;  they  are  manifestly,  as  before,  the  result  of 
imitation.  But  whereas  the  earlier  pointed  art  of  the  country 
followed  French  models  almost  exclusively,  these  later  ones 
have  features  that  appear  to  have  been  derived  from  various 
other  sources.  I  have  already  spoken  of  the  partial  likeness  to 
English  vaulting  of  that  of  the  choir  of  Toledo  (which  on  this 
account  would  appear  to  be  of  a  later  epoch  than  the  rest  of  the 
building).  The  vaulting  of  the  nave  of  the  Cathedral  of  Sevilla 
affords  another  instance  ^  such  a  likeness.  There  is  no  stilting 
of  the  longitudinal  rib,  a  longitudinal  ridge  rib  is  inserted,  and 
the  clerestory  is  extensively  walled  in. 

But  a  more  complete  imitation  of  later  English  work  occurs 
in  the  vaulting  of  the  nave  of  the  new  Cathedral  of  Salamanca, 
dating  from  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century.  This 
vaulting  has  three  tierccrons  added  to  the  rib  system,  which, 
together  with  the  other  ribs,  are  adjusted  in  the  manner  that  is 
peculiar  to  English  fan  vaulting  —  so  that  the  vaulting  conoid 
has  an  approximately  semicircular  section.  Other  ornamental 
ribs,  tracing  fanciful  patterns  on  the  surfaces  of  the  vaults,  are 
also  included.  A  feature  derived  from  another  source  also 
appears  in  these  later  buildings  of  Sevilla  and  Salamanca, 
namely,  a  parapeted  gallery  in  the  clerestory,  as  in  the  Church 
of  Sta.  Croce  and  the  Cathedral  of  Florence. 

The  modes  of  enclosure  in  the  developed  Gothic  of  Spain 
follow  the  French  models  less  completely  than  the  larger  struc- 
tural features.     In  the  apse  of  Burgos,  as  we  have  seen,  the 

^  The  Ijuttress  system  of  the  apse  has  every  Gothic  feature,  including  the  pier 
buttress,  but  I  am  unable  to  make  out  clearly,  from  such  photographs  as  I  have 
been  able  to  obtain,  whether  the  pier  buttress  is  included  in  the  system  of  the  nave. 


298  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

clerestory  opening  has  archivolts  of  two  orders,  the  upper 
one  of  which  forms  the  end  rib  of  the  vault,  and  the  opening, 
with  its  shafted  jambs,  fills  the  whole  space  between  the  piers; 
but  in  the  straight  sides  of  the  choir  there  is  considerable  wall 
on  either  side  of  the  opening.  These  openings  are  each 
divided  by  a  mullion  which  branches  into  the  simplest  form  of 
geometric  tracery.  In  Toledo  there  is  no  triforium.  The  out- 
side roofs  of  the  aisles  are  of  very  low  pitch,  so  that  the 
clerestory  lights  are  brought  far  down,  and  their  jambs  and 
mullions  reach  to  the  still  lower  level  of  a  string-course  which  is 
placed  just  over  the  crowns  of  the  arches  of  the  great  arcade  — 
which  in  a  French  building  would  be  the  triforium  string.  The 
openings  are  large,  though  they  do  not  occupy  the  whole  of  the 
clerestory,  and  are  divided  with  five  mullions,  geometric  tracery, 
and  a  transom,  a  member  which  never  occurs  in  pure  Gothic 
design. 

Leon  is  the  only  one  among  the  three  great  cathedrals  of 
Spain  in  which  the  clerestories  of  both  nave  and  apse  were 
originally  enclosed  in  a  strictly  Gothic  manner  with  glazed 
openings  which  occupy  the  whole  space  between  the  piers  and 
beneath  the  arch  of  the  vault.  The  general  tendency  to  dimin- 
ish the  area  of  the  opening  may  be  due,  as  Mr.  Street  remarks,^ 
to  the  fact  that  in  a  sunny  climate  like  that  of  Spain  the  vast 
openings  of  the  French  Gothic  buildings  would  admit  too  much 
light.  In  so  far  as  this  is  the  case  it  shows  that  the  Gothic 
style  is  itself  unsuited  to  such  a  climate.  And  it  would,  indeed, 
seem  that  this  style,  being  a  creation  of  the  Northern  genius, 
and  a  natural  outgrowth  of  conditions  peculiar  to  the  North,  is 
hardly  an  appropriate  one  for  a  Southern  people  or  a  semi- 
tropical  climate. 

The  Spanish  west  front  exhibits  a  variety  of  treatment; 
but  in  very  few  cases  is  the  French  form  closely  followed. 
The  front  of  the  early  Church  of  San  Pedro  of  Avila  is  notice- 
able as  an  entirely  logical  and  effective  design  of  simple  char- 
acter. It  is  divided  by  buttresses  into  three  parts  corresponding 
to  the  divisions  of  the  interior,  and  has  an  outline  which  follows 
the  section  of  the  building.  The  pointed  arch  does  not  occur 
in  it,  but  a  wheel  window  of  noble  design,  and  of  considerable 
proportionate  magnitude,  framed  in  by  a  shafted  arch  of  two 

^  Gothic  Architecture  in  Spain,  p.  112. 


IX  POINTED    CONSTRUCTION  IN  SPAIN  299 

orders,  fills  the  central  bay  over  the  great  portal ;  and  each  side 
bay  has  a  plain  wall  broken  only  by  an  oculus  at  the  triforium 
level. 

A  different  scheme  occurs  in  the  west  front  of  San  Vincent 
of  Avila,  where  square  towers  terminate  the  aisles.  The  space 
between  these  towers  does  not  (as  in  France  it  usually  does) 
form  the  westernmost  bay  of  the  interior.  It  is  treated  as 
an  open  porch  with  a  pointed  arch  of  two  orders,  on  jamb 
shafts  engaged  with  pilasters,  rising  to  the  level  of  the  vaulting 
of  the  interior.  Over  this  arch  is  a  plain  story  (apparently 
unfinished)  with  three  rectangular  blind  compartments  divided 
by  shafting,  and  a  round-arched  opening  in  each  of  the  lateral 
compartments.  The  enclosing  wall  of  the  nave  is  even  with 
the  inner  sides  of  the  towers,  and  has  a  round-arched  portal 
of  elaborate  design  which  recalls  those  of  the  Burgundian 
Romanesque  churches.^  The  towers  have  strong  buttresses 
reaching  to  the  level  of  the  springing  of  the  central  arch  — 
above  which  they  are  square  in  plan  without  buttresses.  The 
north  tower  has  two  stories  above  the  great  central  arch,  the 
first  of  which  is  adorned  on  each  face  with  coupled  pointed 
blind  arches  of  two  shafted  orders,  and  with  three  round 
shafts  worked  on  each  of  the  angles.  The  second,  or  belfry, 
story  is  plainer,  and  of  apparently  later  design.  The  lower 
stories  of  the  towers  have  each  a  pair  of  tall,  shafted,  blind, 
round  arches  embraced  by  a  square-edged  pointed  arch  on  jambs 
of  the  same  plain  section  without  impost  mouldings  or  capitals. 

The  west  front  of  Burgos  is  composed  in  the  French  man- 
ner, and  consists  of  towers  against  the  aisles  with  a  central 
bay  enclosing  the  nave  and  vigorous  buttresses  accenting  the 
upright  divisions.  It  has,  however,  been  extensively  disfigured 
by  alterations  at  various  epochs,  so  that  its  general  aspect  now 
must  be  very  different  from  that  which  it  originally  presented. 
But  the  greater  part  of  the  design,  above  the  ground  story  and 
beneath  the  spires,  appears  to  retain  its  original  character, 
and  conforms  with  the  French  Gothic  of  the  second  half  of  the 
thirteenth  century.  The  existing  ground  story  is  without  char- 
acter or  interest.  It  appears  to  be  an  alteration  of  a  late  epoch, 
but  it  is,  for  the  most  part,  without  features  that  give  any  clear 

^  Cf.  Enlart:  "  Les  Origines  de  I'Architecture  Gothique  en  Espagne  et  en 
Portugal,"  Bulletin  Archeologique,  1894,  p.  12. 


300  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

indication  of  the  precise  period.  It  consists  of  an  even  wall  of 
great  thickness  advanced  beyond  the  faces  of  the  buttresses, 
and  broken  by  three  very  plain  splayed  pointed  portals.  Its 
solid  construction  suggests  that  it  may  have  been  erected  to 
strengthen  the  fagade.  The  great  rose  of  the  central  bay  is 
spanned  by  a  pointed  arch,  as  at  Reims,  and  the  remainder  of 
the  front  resembles  the  best  French  models  of  the  period  so 
closely  as  to  need  no  further  description. 

The  facade  of  Toledo  appears  not  to  have  been  completed 
in  Gothic  times.  Above  the  late  Gothic  ground  story  —  which 
extends  across  the  nave  and  the  two  inner  aisles  —  nothing  of 
a  Gothic  nature  remains,  if  anything  of  the  kind  ever  existed. 
The  outer  aisles  end  in  square  towers  which  advance  beyond 
the  face  of  the  main  front,  and  have  features  derived  from  the 
Gothic  style  mingled  with  Renaissance  and  modern  elements. 
The  north  tower  is  in  five  stories  crowned  with  a  florid  spire, 
while  the  south  tower  does  not  rise  above  its  basement  upon 
which  is  set  a  modern  octagonal  dome  on  a  high  drum.  The 
three  great  portals  between  the  towers,  though  hardly  earlier 
than  the  fourteenth  century,  have  the  character  of  French 
work  of  that  date. 

The  western  front  of  Leon  dates  from  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, and  the  original  scheme  seems  not  to  have  included  any 
towers.  A  narrow  porch  extends  across  the  whole  width  of 
the  front  proper,  and  has  three  great  pointed  arches  with 
two  narrow  and  acutely  pointed  openings  between  them. 
These  five  arches  are  carried  on  four  free-standing  piers  and 
two  massive  projecting  walls  which,  like  antcB,  enclose  the 
ends  of  the  porch.  The  wall  above  the  arches  is  crowned  with 
a  parapet.  This  porch,  or  narthex,  shelters  three  great  splayed 
portals,  enriched  with  sculpture  which  open  into  the  nave  and 
aisles.  Behind  the  porch  the  enclosing  wall  of  the  nave  rises 
between  buttresses.  An  open  arcade  of  four  pointed  arches 
with  tracery  extends  across  this  wall  on  the  trif  orium  level ;  and 
a  great  wheel,  under  an  unadorned  pointed  arch,  fills  the  clere- 
story space.  The  work  above  this  is  of  the  Renaissance 
period,  and  does  not,  therefore,  need  to  be  described  here. 
Vast  square  and  heavily  buttressed  towers  of  late  Gothic 
design  are  set  out  beyond  the  aisles  —  giving  the  whole  front  a 
width  much  greater  than  that  of  the  main  body  of  the  building. 


IX  POINTED    CONSTRUCTION  IN  SPAIN  301 

The  spaces  above  the  aisles,  on  either  side  of  the  nave,  are  left 
open,  and  are  each  spanned  by  two  flying  buttresses.  The 
whole  composition,  though  largely  made  up  of  unrelated  parts, 
and  in  some  parts  widely  departing  from  the  usual  Gothic 
scheme,  has,  nevertheless,  a  very  majestic  aspect. 

The  early  Spanish  east  ends  externally  have  the  Romanesque 
apsidal  form,  while  in  those  of  the  later  monuments  the  fea- 
tures of  the  French  Gothic  apses  are  reproduced  on  a  simplified 
plan,  usually,  as  we  have  already  seen,  having  only  five  instead 
of  seven  sides. 

The  transepts  of  the  twelfth  century  are  of  rectangular 
form  with  plain  walls,  in  some  cases,  as  in  San  Vincent  of  Avila, 
having  angle  buttresses  around  which  the  cornice  breaks  in  the 
manner  that  is  common  in  Italy ;  while  in  other  instances,  as  in 
Santa  Maria  de  Irache,  there  are  no  buttresses.  In  the  cathe- 
drals of  the  thirteenth  century  the  facades  of  the  transepts  re- 
semble those  of  the  French  Gothic,  though  in  some  cases  with 
additions  —  as  at  Burgos,  where  a  great  arcaded  screen  with  a 
level  cornice  crowns  the  fagade  and  rises  above  the  low  pitched 
roof  in  the  place  which  in  France  would  be  occupied  by  a  gable. 
Vigorous  buttresses  with  offsets  strengthen  the  angles,  and  a 
fine-wheel  window,  with  geometric  tracery,  opens  through  the 
clerestory  wall,  while  a  large,  richly  sculptured  portal  occupies 
the  ground  story,  the  wall  of  the  triforium  remaining  blank. 

In  the  Cathedral  of  Leon  we  get  a  noble  transept  end  of 
thoroughly  Gothic  design. ^  This  transept  having  aisles,  its 
faqade  has  three  bays  on  the  ground  story  with  a  richly 
ornamented  portal  in  each.  No  towers  terminate  these  aisles, 
and  hence  the  flying  buttresses  over  them  become  conspicuous 
features  of  the  design.  A  shafted  arcade  of  four  bays  occupies 
the  triforium  space  in  the  central  bay,  and  a  large  circular 
wheel  set  in  a  triangular  panel  pierces  the  wall  of  the  clere- 
story. Over  all  is  a  steep  crocketed  gable  pierced  with  a  small 
oculus  flanked  by  pinnacles  which  cap  the  buttresses.  This  gable 
corresponds  to  nothing  behind  it,  since  the  roof  is  of  a  very  low 
pitch,  and  thus,  while  it  would  be  an  appropriate  crowning  for 
a  building  with  a  steep  roof,  it  is  without  meaning  here. 

1  This  transept  fagade  has  recently  been  rebuilt,  and  I  do  not  know  how  closely 
the  architect  has  followed  the  original  design;  but  it  has,  for  the  most  part,  the 
character  of  a  thirteenth-century  Gothic  composition. 


302  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

Towers  and  spires,  like  west  fronts  and  transept  ends,  are 
treated  in  Spain  in  a  variety  of  ways.  The  towers  are  often, 
like  French  towers,  compactly  incorporated  with  the  main  body 
of  the  building  —  as  in  San  Vincent  of  Avila  and  Burgos  ;  but 
they  are  not  seldom  semi-detached  —  as  in  San  Isidoro  and  the 
Cathedral  of  Leon.  The  early  west  towers  of  San  Vincent  and 
the  late  ones  of  Burgos  have  already  been  described.  The 
tower  of  San  Isidoro  is  noticeable  as  a  noble  design  of  the 
eleventh,  or  early  twelfth,  century,  strongly  resembling  the 
western  tower  of  Morienval  in  the  Ile-de-France.  It  rises, 
with  slight  set-offs  and  shallow  angle  buttresses,  to  the  height  of 
three  stories,  with  nearly  unbroken  walls,  and  is  then  crowned 
with  a  belfry  which  has  two  large  round-arched  openings,  each  of 
three  shafted  orders,  and  a  slender  shaft  worked  on  each  angle. 
The  existing  roof  appears  to  be  a  modern  one  of  timber  and  slates 
in  the  form  of  a  low  pyramid  on  a  square  base.  Towers  of  devel- 
oped Gothic  character,  with  large  openings  and  set-off  buttresses, 
appear  to  be  rare  in  Spain.  Those  of  Burgos  seem  to  be  excep- 
tional. The  west  towers  of  Leon,  which  are  of  late  construc- 
tion, have  pronounced  buttresses ;  but  in  the  north  one  there 
are  no  set-offs,  and  no  openings  below  the  main  cornice,  while 
above  this  the  design  is  almost  as  plain  as  beneath.  The  whole 
aspect  of  this  tower  is  bold  and  fortress-like.  The  buttresses  of 
the  south  tower  are  treated  in  a  more  Gothic  manner.  They 
have  set-offs,  gabled  panelling,  and  pinnacles,  and  the  openings 
are  more  numerous  and  larger  ;  though  the  lower  portions  still 
have  a  fortress-like  character.  The  one  completed  tower  of 
Toledo  is  of  a  post-Gothic  epoch,  though  it  has  some  late  Gothic 
details.  Its  walls  and  buttresses  are  nearly  plumb  from  the 
ground  to  the  base  of  the  spire.  It  is  thus  more  like  Italian 
than  like  French  towers,  though  its  proportions  are  heavier 
than  those  which  are  common  in  Italy. 

True  Gothic  spires  appear  never  to  have  been  built  in  Spain. 
The  earlier  existing  tower  roofs  are  low,  and  usually  not  of  stone. 
All  Spanish  spires,  so  far  as  I  know,  were  of  late  construction. 
The  north  tower  of  Leon  has  a  low  stone  spire  with  pinnacles  at 
its  base.  But  the  only  spires  that  have  anything  like  the  Gothic 
outline  are,  like  those  of  Burgos  and  the  south  tower  of  Leon, 
imitations  of  late  German  designs  of  ornamental  open  stone- 
work.      These    are  curiously    ill    adjusted  to  the  towers    from 


IX  POINTED    CONSTRUCTION  IN  SPAIN  303 

which  they  rise,  being  too  small  at  the  base  to  cover  the  towers 
well,  having  no  transitional  drums,  and  no  effective  subordinate 
features  leading  the  eye  upward.  The  pointed  architecture  of 
Spain  is  thus  in  various  ways  different  from  that  of  France, 
and  what  Gothic  character  it  has  is  plainly  borrowed  from  the 
French  source. 


CHAPTER   X 

GOTHIC   PROFILES   IN   FRANCE 

We  may  now  consider  the  profiling,  that  is,  the  lines  of  the 
sections  of  mouldings  and  other  small  members,  of  the  Gothic 
style,  beginning  with  the  forms  of  capitals  and  bases  the  out- 
lines of  which  fall  properly  under  the  general  head  of  Profiles. 
The  other  members  to  be  examined  under  this  head  are  chiefly 
string-courses,  archivolts,  vault  ribs,  and  tracery.  The  profiles 
given  to  these  members  are  the  result  of  functional  adaptation 
to  the  uses  they  have  to  serve,  and  are,  at  the  same  time,  an 
expression  of  that  fine  aesthetic  feeling  which  governed  the 
Gothic  designer  in  every  part  of  his  work. 

In  arched  systems  of  architecture  the  primary  function  of  the 
capital  is  obviously  to  prepare  the  column  which  it  crowns  to 
carry  a  load  more  bulky  than  itself,  and  one  that  is  usually 
of  a  different  form.  Where  the  superimposed  load  is  not  so 
large  as  to  overhang  the  face  of  the  shaft,  the  capital  has, 
as  M.  Viollet-le-Duc  has  shown, ^  little  structural  function.  In 
the  arcades  of  primitive  buildings  the  impost  is  often  hardly 
more  bulky  than  the  column  itself,  as  in  the  court  of  the  palace 
of  Diocletian  at  Spalato,  in  the  Basilica  of  Maxentius  and  Con- 
stantine,  and  in  some  of  the  early  basilican  churches.  The  Roman 
builders  who  first  sprung  arches  from  the  heads  of  columns  did 
not  perceive  the  necessity  of  changing  the  form  of  the  capital 
(which  had  been  designed  to  support  merely  the  classic  entabla- 
ture) in  order  to  suit  it  to  new  structural  conditions.  The  earliest 
development  of  a  form  of  shaft  and  capital  suitably  adapted 
to  an  arched  system  of  construction  appears  to  have  been 
accomplished  by  the  Byzantine  architects  in  the  arcades  of 
the  apsidal  alcoves  of  St.  Sophia  of  Constantinople,  already  re- 
ferred to  on  page  33.  In  these  (Fig.  144)  classic  forms  and 
proportions  are  wholly  thrown  aside  as  no  longer  adapted  to 
the  conditions  that  had  to  be  met.     The  column,  having  now 

1  S.v.  Chapiteau,  p.  481. 
304 


CHAP.  X 


GOTHIC  PROFILES  lAT  FRANCE 


305 


to  carry  a  bulky  load  of  square  form,  instead  of  a  narrow  archi- 
trave, is  crowned  with  a  capital  of  wholly  new  character.  It 
is  a  curious  combination  of  elements  derived  from  all  three  of 
the  classic  types,  modified  and  fused  together  in  a  creative  way, 
and  not  a  mere  adjunction  of  parts  taken  without  alteration  from 
different  forms,  as  was  the  Roman  composite  capital.  The 
Doric  element  appears  in  the  convex  outline  and  in  the  thick 


Fig.  144.  —  St.  Sophia,  Constantinople. 

square  abacus ;  the  Ionic  in  the  volutes,  which  are  on  two 
opposite  faces  only,  and  are  connected  on  the  other  sides  by  the 
bolsters,  or  cushion-shaped  features,  that  are  peculiar  to  the  Ionic 
capital ;  and  the  Corinthian  in  the  height  of  the  member.  The 
height  was  needed  to  gain  the  necessary  magnitude  of  abacus 
surface  without  producing  an  unsafe  and  unsightly  inclination 
of  the  outline.  The  square  form  of  abacus  was  needed  to  fit 
the  square  load,  and  its  thickness  was  required  to  give  strength 
to  its  overhanging  angles.  The  capital  thus  formed  is  a  struc- 
tural member  of  great  importance,  providing  a  secure  bed  for  the 


3o6  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

load  with  which  it  is  charged.  The  general  outline  of  the  entire 
column  is  no  less  admirable  from  an  aesthetic  point  of  view  than 
it  is  from  that  of  functional  adaptability.  The  shaft  itself,  which 
may  be  an  ancient  one,  has  the  slight  taper  of  the  best  classic 
shafts,  and  an  entasis  of  perfectly  Greek  refinement.  It  is 
interesting  to  find  the  Greek  genius  again  active,  and,  under 
changed  conditions,  creating  appropriately  new  architectural 
forms  which  are  no  less  logical  and  beautiful  than  were  those 
of  classic  times.  An  instructive  lesson  may  here  be  drawn  from 
the  work  of  the  later  Greeks.  The  practice  of  using  classic 
elements  in  connection  with  modes  of  building  that  widely 
depart  in  principle  from  those  of  classic  antiquity  finds  no 
support  in  Byzantine  Greek  art. 

The  logic  and  the  artistic  skill  thus  displayed  by  the  Byzan- 
tine designers  in  the  shaping  and  adjustment  of  the  capital  were 
not  followed  by  the  builders  of  Western  Europe  until  after  the 
eleventh  century.  Marked  traces  of  the  Byzantine  influence 
occur,  however,  in  some  of  the  basilican  churches  of  Rome ;  and 
among  them  are  many  curious  imitations  of  the  form  of  impost 
that  appears  to  have  been  first  developed  in  Constantinople. 
Of  these  the  arcades  of  the  Church  of  Sta.  Maria  in  Cosmedin, 
dating  from  th^  close  of  the  eighth  century,  afford  interesting 
instances  (Fig.  145).  This  church,  like  most  early  churches  in 
Italy,  was  constructed  largely  of  materials  gathered  from  the 
ruins  of  more  ancient  buildings.  Where  the  forms  of  columns, 
capitals,  and  bases,  thus  found  ready  to  their  hands,  were  not 
well  suited  to  their  needs,  the  early  Christian  Roman  builders 
employed  such  devices  as  they  could  to  adapt  them.  The 
Corinthian  capital  represented  in  Fig.  145  was  not  well  suited 
to  the  support  of  the  bulky  load  laid  upon  it.  Its  abacus  is  too 
thin  to  carry  the  overhanging  weight,  and  its  curved  sides  do 
not  follow  the  square  impost  section.  Accordingly  a  square,  flat 
stone  is  laid  upon  it,  forming  a  rude,  supplementary  abacus, 
which,  however,  is  hardly  thick  enough  to  satisfy  the  eye.  The 
column  to  which  this  capital  is  adjusted  is  much  more  slender 
than  the  one  for  which  it  must  have  been  designed ;  but,  while 
it  thus  fits  awkwardly  (the  base  of  the  capital  overhanging  the 
neck  moulding),  it  is  large  enough  for  its  present  function,  and 
the  whole  impost,  though  a  patchwork  of  unrelated  fragments, 
is  not  bad  in  its  general  outline,  and  substantially  approaches 


GOTHIC  PROFILES  IN  FRANCE 


307 


the  form  of  the  Byzantine  impost  (Fig.  144).  A  later  form  of 
Byzantine  capital  which  has  a  thick  supplementary  abacus,  of 
smaller  superficial  dimensions  than  the  first, — a  type  much 
employed  at  Ravenna,  and  occurring  in  the  arcades  of  San 
Stefano  Rotondo  of  Rome,  —  does  not  concern  us  here  because 
it  is  not  a  type  that  had  influence  on  the  subsequent  architec- 
ture of  the  Middle  Ages. 


Fu;.  145.  —  Sta.  Maria  in  Cosmedin. 

From  the  time  of  Justinian  to  the  eleventh  century  hardly 
any  architectural  improvements  were,  as  we  have  before  seen, 
anywhere  made.  In  the  Lombard  Romanesque  a  halting  pro- 
cedure in  respect  to  the  capital  is  manifest.  The  shafts  of  the 
piers  of  St.  Ambrogio  of  Milan  are,  in  some  cases,  almost  as 
large  as  the  loads  which  they  carry ;  and  while  the  capital, 
which  is  a  rude  combination  of  Roman  and  Byzantine  elem.ents, 
is  well  shaped  to  suit  such  conditions,  it  has  little  other  use 


3o8 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


than  to  adjust  the  round  section  of  the  shaft  to  the  square  form  of 
the  load.  In  the  early  Norman  Romanesque  this  form  of  impost 
is  frequent,  as  in  F'ig.  146,  an  engaged  shaft  of  the  north  aisle 
of  Jumieges.  Better  forms  than  this,  however,  were  produced 
at  this  epoch,  especially  in  the  Ile-de-France,  where,  in  the 
aisles  of  Morienval,  capitals  occur  (Fig.  16,  p.  51)  which  so 
closely  resemble  those  of  St.  Sophia  as  to  confirm  the  belief 
that  a  traditional,  and  perhaps  even  a  direct,  Byzantine  influ- 
ence was  felt  here  very 
early  in  the  Roman- 
esque development. 

In  France,  after  the 
eleventh  century,  the 
practice  of  giving  to 
the  capital  a  spreading 
form  to  carry  a  load 
more  bulky  than  the 
shaft  became  practically 
constant ;  and  the  degree 
of  expansion  varied  con- 
siderably, according  to 
circumstances.  Where 
compact  stone  for  mono- 
lithic shafts  could  be  ob- 
tained, they  were  often 
made  very  slender,  and 
yet  were  sufficiently 
strong  to  bear  the  weight 
that  might  be  gathered  on  a  broad  abacus.  This  use  of 
slender  monolithic  shafts  and  columns  led  to  the  production  of 
the  distinctly  Gothic  type  of  capital,  early  examples  of  which 
occur  in  the  apse  of  the  Cathedral  of  Senlis  (Fig.  147).  The 
general  outline  and  proportions  of  the  whole  impost  of  Senlis  are 
remarkably  similar  to  those  of  St.  Sophia  (Fig.  144).  Students 
of  mediaeval  architecture  have  hardly  hitherto  enough  observed 
the  extent  and  the  importance  of  the  structural  innovations 
(apart  from  those  connected  with  the  development  of  the 
dome  on  pendentives)  that  were  made  by  the  Byzantine  archi- 
tects, or  the  cumulative  influence  of  these  innovations  on  the 
arts  of  Western  Europe,  and  more  especially  on  the  rising  art 


Fig.  146. — Jumieges. 


GOTHIC  PROFILES  IiV  FRANCE 


309 


of  France  in  the  twelfth  century.  But  so  important  were  these 
innovations,  and  so  great  their  influence,  that  I  believe  it  hardly 
too  much  to  say  that  the  Gothic  style  was  made  possible  by 
them.  The  domical  groined  vault  and  the  expanded  capital  are 
forms  without  which  Gothic  architecture  could  not  exist.  But 
the  capital  of  Senlis,  while  exhibiting  so  much  resemblance  to 


Fig.  147.  ^Senlis. 

that  of  St.  Sophia,  is  nevertheless  not  precisely  similar.  It 
shows  modifications  that  adapt  it  to  the  Gothic  functions  and 
the  Gothic  taste.  It  is  not  merely  a  capital  of  Byzantine  form 
inserted  in  a  transitional  Gothic  building.  The  capital  of  St. 
Sophia  would  not  do  as  well  in  its  place.  The  abacus  is  further 
thickened,  giving  more  resistance  to  the  overhanging  parts,  while 
the  bell  is  correspondingly  diminished  in  height,  and  has  a  concave 


3IO 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


outline.  The  resulting  form  is  remarkable  for  elegance  as  well 
as  for  functional  expression.  The  capitals  of  the  sanctuary  of 
Noyon(Fig.  148)  are  equally  admirable  in  expression  and  elegant 
in  form.  The  bell  is  here  much  deeper,  and  the  concave  profile 
is  more  distinctly  marked.  Of  a  somewhat  more  advanced,  and 
richer,  type,  illustrating  the  purest  and  most  refined  Gothic  art, 


Fig.  148.  — Noyon. 

are  the  superb  capitals  of  the  sanctuary  of  St.  Leu  d'Esserent. 
The  supporting  columns  are,  in  all  these  cases,  monolithic, 
and  hence  they  are  slender  in  proportion  to  the  bulk  of  the 
load  with  which  they  are  charged.  Where  the  columns  are  not 
monolithic,  but  are  built  up  of  coursed  masonry,  their  diameter 
is  necessarily  greater  in  relation  to  their  height,  and  the  capital 
is  proportionately  less  expanded.     The  intermediate  piers,  for 


GOTHIC  PROFILES  IN  FRANCE 


3" 


instance,  of  the  choir  of  Senlis  are  round  columns  built  in 
courses  ;  and  they  are  consequently  much  larger,  and  have  capi- 
tals which  are  considerably  less  spreading,  than  those  of  the  sanc- 
tuary, as  may  be  seen  in  the  perspective  elevation  (Fig.  40,  p.  96). 


Fin.  149.  —  Triforium  of  Choir,  Paris. 

The  round  columns  of  the  ground  story  of  the  Cathedral  of 
Paris  are,  like  those  of  the  choir  of  Senlis,  built  up  in  courses, 
and  the  expansion  of  their  capitals  is  consequently  slight ;  but 
in  the  triforium  of  the  choir  the  shafts  of  the  arcades  are  com- 
paratively slender  monoliths,  and  their  capitals  (Fig.   149)  are 


312 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


more  spreading ;  while  in  the  triforium  of  the  nave  the  shafts 
are  still  more  slender,  and  the  capitals  (Fig.  150)  are  very  much 
expanded. 

In  the  early  Gothic  the  volume  of  the  load  may,  in  some  situa- 
tions, appear  smaller  than  that  of  the  supporting  shaft.     A  case 


Fig.  150.  —  Triforium  of  Nave,  Paris. 

of  this  may  be  observed  in  the  apsidal  aisle  of  St.  Germer 
(Fig.  27,  p.  73),  where  the  diagonal  rib  appears  smaller  than 
the  shaft  which  carries  it.  A  side  view  will  generally  show, 
however,  that  the  rib  is  deeper  than  the  shaft.  In  advanced 
Gothic  it  is  not  uncommon  to  find  imposts  in  subordinate  posi- 
tions in  which  the  load  and  the  support  are  of  the  same  magni- 


X  GOTHIC  PROFILES  IN  FRANCE  313 

tude  and  the  same  form,  as,  for  example,  in  tracery  of  large 
openings.  In  these  cases  the  capital  has  no  real  structural 
function,  but  is  used  ornamentally,  with  a  pleasant  structural 
suggestiveness.  There  is  no  impropriety  in  this.  The  eye 
readily  perceives  that  the  capital  is  used  to  harmonize  the 
tracery  with  the  larger  structural  elements. 

Another  principle  governing  the  forms  of  Gothic  capitals 
appears  to  be  that  the  thickness  of  the  abacus  is  in  proportion 
to  the  expansion  of  the  bell.  This  principle  is  subject  to  ex- 
ceptions, but  I  believe  it  will  generally  be  found  to  hold.  Thus 
in  the  capital  (Fig.  150),  where  the  expansion  reaches  about 
its  maximum,  the  thickness  of  the  abacus  is  equal  to  nearly 
half  the  total  height.  In  the  capital  (Fig.  149),  where  the  ex- 
pansion is  considerably  less,  the  abacus  is  correspondingly  thin- 
ner. The  capitals  of  the  triforium  of  Laon  (Fig.  151)  have  about 
the  same  spread  as  those  of  the  choir  of  Paris,  and  the  thickness 
of  their  abaci  is  in  nearly  the  same  proportion.  But  in  the  mas- 
sive and  slightly  expanded  capitals  of  the  ground-story  columns 
(as  in  those  of  Paris,  Fig.  61,  p.  129)  the  abaci  are  compara- 
tively thin.  The  constructive  principle  involved  is,  of  course, 
that  the  slightly  expanded  capital  presents  no  projecting  parts 
that  are  not,  when  crowned  with  a  thin  abacus,  abundantly  strong 
for  the  weight  with  which  they  are  charged ;  while  those  of  the 
more  spreading  form  would  be  weak  where  they  overhang  if 
they  were  not  surmounted  by  a  thick  crowning  member.  The 
principle  is  not,  however,  as  I  have  just  said,  always  strictly 
carried  out.  In  the  Cathedral  of  Senlis,  for  instance,  the  less 
spreading  capitals  of  the  choir  and  nave  have  abaci  hardly,  if  at 
all,  thinner  than  the  much-spreading  ones  of  the  sanctuary.  But 
in  early  buildings,  like  Senlis,  the  Gothic  principles  were  yet 
undeveloped  in  many  details. 

In  the  Romanesque  period  the  abacus  and  the  bell  were 
sometimes  wrought  out  of  separate  stones,  as  in  the  capitals  of 
the  aisle  of  Morienval  (Fig.  16,  p.  51),  where  a  joint  may  be 
seen  between  these  two  parts.  But  in  the  Gothic  monuments 
the  entire  capital,  including  the  neck  moulding  (which  in  the 
classic  orders  is  worked  on  the  shaft,  and  not  on  the  capital,  as 
in  Sta.  Maria  in  Cosmedin,  Fig.  145,  p.  307),  is  carved  out  of  one 
block.  The  profile  of  the  capital  thus  includes  the  abacus  and 
the  neck  moulding. 


3H 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


In  the  early  Gothic  the  abacus  is  usually  square  in  plan, 
in  conformity  with  the  section  of  the  load,  which  is  usually 
square  until  after  the  first  quarter  of  the  thirteenth  century. 
But  when  in  the  more  advanced  stages  of  Gothic  design  the 
archivolt  sections  became  polygonal,  the  plan  of  the  abacus 
assumed  a  corresponding  shape,  as  in  the    upper  portions  of 


Fig.  151.  —  Triforium  of  Laon. 


the  nave  of  Amiens.  The  round  abacus  hardly  occurs  in  the 
early,  and  early  fine,  Gothic  of  France,  except  occasionally 
where  a  compound  impost  renders  it  suitable,  as  in  the  great 
piers  of  Paris  (Fig.  59,  p.  127),  and  in  subordinate  places,  as  in 
the  jambs  and  dividing  members  of  the  clerestory  openings  of 
Amiens,  where  the  impost  sections  are  round. ^ 

^  In  Normandy  the  round  abacus  is  of  frequent  occurrence  in  the  structural  parts 
of  the  architecture  of  the  early  thirteenth  century. 


GOTHIC  PROFILES  /A'  FRANCE 


315 


The  profiling  of  the  abacus  is  comparatively  simple,  though 
a  considerable  variety  of  effect  is  obtained  by  different  com- 
binations of  the  simple  mouldings.  Starting  from  the  plain  bev- 
elled stone  of  the  eleventh  century  (Fig.  16,  p.  5 1 ),  the  mouldings 
of  the  early  Gothic  abacus  are  but  slightly  salient,  as  in  the 
profiles  of  St.  Evremond  of  Creil  (Fig.  1 52,  a)  and  of  the  Cathedral 
of  Senlis  (Fig.  152,  b).  They  gradually  become  more  pronounced, 
as  in  the  triforium  of  the  nave  of  Paris  (Fig.  152,  c,  d,  <?,  and/), 
but  never  exhibit  very  salient  members  alternating  with  deep 
hollows,  as  in  later  Gothic  design.  The  mouldings  are  rarely, 
if  ever,  of  uniform  character  throughout  an  entire  building, 
and  they  frequently  vary  a  good  deal  in  a  single  arcade. 
While  the  same  profile  may  be  often  substantially  repeated, 
it  frequently  happens  that  several  different  ones  are  found 
in   the   abaci   of   a   given    series    of    capitals.      Thus    in    the 


north  triforium  of  the  nave  of  Paris,  where  there  are  in  all 
fourteen  capitals,  the  four  different  profiles,  c,  d,  e,  f  (Fig. 
152),  occur.  Of  these,  counting  from  the  transept,  the  pro- 
file c  occurs  in  the  first,  second,  third,  fourth,  and  eighth ; 
the  profile  d  in  the  fifth,  sixth,  ninth,  and  tenth  ;  the  profile  e 
in  the  seventh;  and  the  profile/  in  the  eleventh,  twelfth,  thir- 
teenth, and  fourteenth.  Where  the  same  form  is  repeated,  more 
or  less  difference  in  the  proportions  of  the  parts  will  generally 
be  found.  The  work  was  wrought  largely  with  a  free  hand ; 
and  though  beautifully  finished,  it  rarely  exhibits  any  absolute 
mechanical  precision.  The  same  member  may  have  different 
thicknesses  at  different  parts  of  its  length,  and  the  lines  are  thus 
hardly  ever  perfectly  straight  or  precisely  parallel.  The  exe- 
cution has  a  character  and  a  charm  akin  to  that  of  free-hand 
drawing ;  it  has  nothing  of  the  dry  precision  of  work  wrought 
with  rigid  exactness  by  rule  and  compass. 


31 6  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

The  upper  member  of  the  early  French  abacus  has  a  square 
section,  and  this  is  retained  until  about  the  end  of  the  first 
quarter  of  the  thirteenth  century.  After  this  it  assumes  a 
curved  profile,  more  or  less  like  that  shown  at  A  in  Fig.  153  from 
the  west  front  of  Amiens  Cathedral,  or  like  B  from  the  trif orium 
of  the  same  building. 

The  outline  of  the  bell  is  almost  without  exception  a  fine 
Corinthianesque  curve.  Of  the  capitals  of  the  ancient  orders 
the  Corinthian  only  influenced  to  any  considerable  extent  the 
art  of  the  Middle  Ages.     Derived  from  the  Roman  type  and 

logically  modified  in  part  under 
Byzantine  influence,  the  Corin- 
thianesque capital  of  the  later 
Romanesque  builders  was  an 
improvement  on  its  prototype, 
while  that  of  the  Gothic  artists 
of  the  close  of  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury was  further  developed  in 
its  functional  character  and 
refined  in  its  profile.  This 
pj(,  ^        type   is    one    that   admits    of 

almost  endless  changes  which 
adapt  it  to  the  varied  conditions  that  Gothic  capitals  have 
to  meet.  The  circular  form  of  the  bell  is  adjusted  to  the 
square  of  the  abacus  by  crockets  which  take  the  place  of  the 
classic  volutes  and  afford  support  to  the  projecting  angles  of 
the  abacus  —  as  in  Figs.  149  and  150.  The  French  Gothic 
capitals  of  what  may  be  called  the  early  fine  period  —  i.e.  the 
last  quarter  of  the  twelfth  century — are  among  the  most  beau- 
tiful objects  ever  produced  by  human  art.  For  structural 
adaptation,  joined  with  subtle  grace  of  contour,  they  are,  in 
fact,  quite  unequalled  by  those  of  any  other  age  or  style. 

It  does  not  come  within  the  scope  of  this  work  to  fol- 
low out  the  later  transformations  of  the  Gothic  capital ;  but 
it  may  be  remarked  that  during  the  course  of  the  thirteenth 
century  certain  modifications  of  its  form  were  introduced  which, 
though  not  improvements,  were  logical  adaptations  to  changed 
conditions,  and  which  sometimes  produced  results  that  have 
much  merit.  These  modifications  were  consequent  upon  changes 
that  had  been  wrought  in  the  profiles  of  the  archivolts  and  vault 


X  GOTHIC  PROFILES  IN  FRANCE  317 

ribs,  giving  them  a  polygonal  section.  Arch  sections  of  other 
than  square  form  had  sometimes  been  employed  from  the  earliest 
times.  But  these  forms,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  were  very 
simple  and  did  not  lead  to  any  change  in  the  shape  of  the  abacus. 
When,  however,  more  complicated  mouldings  were  introduced, 
and  had  become  general,  the  form  of  the  abacus  was  changed 
correspondingly.  The  bell  remained  substantially  unaltered,  but 
the  absence  of  the  salient  angles  of  the  abacus  removed  the 
need  of  supporting  crockets;  and  though  crockets  continued 
to  form  parts  of  the  design,  they  were  now  only  ornamental 
features.  Having  no  functional  use  or  expression,  they  were 
often  placed,  not  under  the  angles  of  the  polygonal  abacus,  but 
under  its  alternate  sides,  as  in  Fig.  1 54,  a  capital  from  one  of  the 
chapels  of  the  choir  of  Amiens.  It  is  true  that  the  crockets  of 
Gothic  capitals  had  always  had  a  largely  ornamental  purpose ; 
and  that,  together  with  those  under  the  corners  of  the  abacus 
which  had  a  functional  use,  there  had  been  others,  of  smaller 
size,  alternating  with  the  main  ones,  and  placed  lower  down  on 
the  bell  where  they  could  have  only  an  ornamental  value  —  as 
in  Fig.  149.  These,  however,  were  subordinate  features,  carry- 
ing out  the  general  scheme  of  enrichment  in  a  manner  that  har- 
monized with  the  structural  form.  The  capital  (Fig.  154)  still  has 
a  good  deal  of  functional  expression.  The  beautiful  foliated 
crockets  are  compactly  gathered  under  the  abacus,  and  the 
whole  outline  is  in  keeping  with  the  structural  office  of  the 
member.  This  character  was  generally  retained  in  the  earlier 
types  of  capitals  with  polygonal  and  round  abaci ;  but  at  a  later 
period  the  crocket  was  over-developed,  and  finally  became  an 
extravagant  and  unmeaning  excrescence.  In  imposts  where 
such  capitals  occur,  the  load  is  apt  to  be  comparatively  small, 
and  the  abacus  is  accordingly  diminished,  and  is  often  made 
very  thin.  Even  these  capitals  sometimes  have  considerable 
beauty,  and  the  crockets  are  often  designed  with  much  grace 
and  variety ;  but  they  are  wanting  in  that  functional  expression 
which  marks  the  best  capitals  of  early  Gothic  art. 

The  forms  of  bases  are  hardly  less  interesting  than  those  of 
capitals.  The  Gothic  base  is,  as  before  remarked,  always  some 
modification  of  the  Attic  base  of  classical  antiquity.  Bases 
closely  resembling  those  of  the  Erechtheum  and  the  Choragic 
Monument  of   Lysicrates  may  be  found  in   Gothic  buildings ; 


3i! 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP, 


but  the  proportions  of  the  parts  are  more  or  less  changed  in 
conformity  with  the  new  conditions,  and  the  profiling  becomes, 
in  some  cases,  even  more  refined  and  beautiful  than  those  of 
ancient  times.  The  Gothic  shaft  having  to  carry  more  weight 
in  proportion  to  its  size  than  the  classic  column,  and  being  more 
subject  to  chances  of  lateral  movement,  required  a  firmer  and 
stronger  base.     The  round  ancient  base  resting  on  its  stylobate 


E.H.M. 


Fig.  154. — Amiens. 

without  the  interposition  of  a  plinth,  or  with  a  plinth  of  shallow 
proportions,  suited  perfectly  well  the  simple  conditions  of  classic 
construction ;  but  the  Gothic  base  had  to  be  both  deeper  and 
more  spreading.  For  if  a  heavily  charged  slender  column, 
under  conditions  which  render  it  liable  to  more  or  less  disturb- 
ance of  its  equilibrium,  be  placed  upon  a  thin  plinth,  sooner  or 
later  some  fracture  of  the  plinth  will  be  likely  to  occur.     But 


GOTHIC  PROFILES  IN  FRANCE 


319 


if  the  plinth  be  thickened,  it  will  remain  more  safe.  If,  in  addi- 
tion, a  second  stone,  also  of  considerable  thickness,  be  placed 
beneath  the  first,  a  secure  footing  for  the  column  will  be  ob- 
tained. Gothic  bases  are  constructed  in  this  manner ;  they  are 
always  thick,  and  in  most  cases  are  composed  of  at  least  two 
blocks  of  stone.  In  the  base,  as  well  as  in  the  capital,  the  first 
innovations  seem  to  have  been  made  by  the  Byzantine  archi- 
tects. The  bases  of  the  shafts  whose  capitals  (Fig.  144)  we 
have  just  examined  have  the  form  shown  in  Fig.  155,  which  is 
a  wide  departure  from  the  ancient  base,  and,  for  an  arched  system 
of  construction,  it  is  an  improvement  tending  in  the  direction  of 
the  Gothic  base.     The  lower  torus  is  here  considerably  deep- 


FlG.  155.  —St.  Sophia. 

ened,  and  is  placed  upon  a  plinth  of  unprecedented  thickness. 
Early  Romanesque  bases  are  naturally  less  elegant  in  profile 
than  those  of  St.  Sophia  (which  exhibit  the  subtle  artistic  skill 
of  the  later  Greek  designers),  but  they  are  usually  composed  of 
the  same  elements.  In  St.  Ambrogio  of  Milan,  for  instance, 
the  lower  torus  is  much  less  salient,  and  a  narrower  plinth  is 
used,  so  that  the  entire  base  has  a  less  expanded  form  —  as 
we  have  already  seen  is  the  case  with  the  capital  also.  In 
early  Norman  Romanesque  art,  as  in  the  nave  of  the  Abbaye- 
aux-Hommes,  rudely  shaped  bases  frequently  occur  in  which 
all  trace  of  the  Attic  profile  is  lost ;  but  in  the  later  Roman- 
esque of  the  Ile-de-France,  as  in  St.  Etienne  of  Beauvais 
(Fig.  156),  the  Attic  profiling  is  distinct,  though  the  contours 
are  rude.     The  parts,  however,  already  exhibit  Gothic  propor- 


320 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


tions,  and  the  plinths  are  of  remarkable  height.  This  profile 
is  varied  in  the  bases  of  St.  Martin  des  Champs  (Fig.  157); 
and  other  variations  occur,  with  increasing  elegance  of  contour, 
in  the  base  profiles  of  early  Gothic  monuments — as  in  those  of 


Fig.  156.  Fjg.  157.  Fig.  158. 

the  nave  of  Senlis  (Fig.  158),  and  the  nave  of  St.-Germer-de-Fly 
(Fig.  159);  while  in  the  choir  of  Paris  (Fig.  160),  and  in  many 
other  contemporaneous  buildings,  very  subtle  profiles  are  found, 
in  some  of  which  the  lower  torus  is  flattened  with  exquisite 
effect. 


GOTHIC  PROFILES  IiV  FRANCE 


321 


A  conspicuous  feature  of  the  early  Gothic  base  is  the 
griffe  or  angle  spur.  This  is  an  ornamental  projection  from 
the  lower  torus  covering  the  angles  of  the  square  plinth.  It 
assumes  a  great,  variety  of  fanciful  and  beautiful  forms  during 
the  entire  early  Gothic  period.  In  Fig.  160, 
from  the  choir  of  Paris,  the  corners  of  the 
plinth  are  cut  off,  leaving  little  room  for  the 
griffe.  Where  this  is  not  the  case,  this  fea- 
ture becomes  more  developed,  as  in  the 
exquisite  example  (Fig.  161)  from  the  nave 
of  Reims.  While  it  can  hardly  be  said  that 
the  griffe  has  a  really  constructive  function, 
it  nevertheless  has  a  functional  expression 
giving  the  lower  torus  an  apparent  grasp 
of  the  plinth  as  well  as  an  appropriate  orna- 
ment. This  feature  appears  first,  I  believe, 
in  the  bases  of  the  Lombard  Romanesque 
designers.  It  does  not  occur  on  the  bases 
of  St.  Sophia,  nor,  I  think,  in  the  later 
Byzantine  architecture.  But  rudimentary 
forms  of  it  appear  on  the  rudely  executed 
bases  of  St.  Ambrogio  of  Milan.  In  the 
Northern  Romanesque,  however,  it  is  rare. 
It  does  not  occur  in  either  of  the  abbey 
churches  of  Caen,  nor  in  the  nave  of  Vezelay, 
nor  in  St.  Etienne  of  Beauvais  ;  but  in  the 
apse  of  Poissy  it  is  superbly  developed,  and 
in  the  early  Gothic  churches  it  is  rarely 
absent. 

The  base,  like  the  capital,  is  more  spread- 
ing in  proportion  as  the  shaft  is  diminished 
in  bulk;  and  the  profiles  of  the  bases  of  small 
arcades  are  often  among  the  most  exquisite 
objects  which  the  genius  of  the  Gothic  archi- 
tects produced.  Of  such  bases  none  are  finer 
than  those  of  the  triforium  of  the  nave  of  Paris,  of  which 
Fig.  162  is  a  profile  and  Fig.  163  a  perspective  view.  It  will 
be  seen  that  the  griffe  on  the  nearest  corner,  unhappily  broken, 
differs  from  the  others  —  affording  an  instance  of  the  variety 
of  treatment  which  characterizes  Gothic  design. 


Fig.  159. 


322 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


Toward  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century  the  plinth  began  to 
be  diminished  in  magnitude  so  that  the  lower  torus  overhung 
its  sides  —  as  in  the  profile  (Fig.  164)  in  the  choir  of  Chartres. 
The  salient  angles  were  thus  made  smaller,  and  the  griffe  was 
usually  omitted ;  though  it  was  sometimes  included,  being 
wrought  on  a  smaller  scale.  Occasionally  the  angles  of  these 
smaller  plinths  are  rounded  off,  as  in  the  small  base  (Fig.  165) 


Fig.  160. 

from  the  choir  of  Soissons ;  and  at  length  the  plinth  becomes 
octagonal,  and  sometimes  round,  so  as  to  present  no  angles  that 
project  beyond  the  torus  —  as  in  the  westernmost  piers  of  Paris 
(Fig.  166),  and  the  piers  of  the  nave  of  Amiens  (Fig.  167).  In 
these  cases  the  griffe  necessarily  disappears  altogether.  While 
the  diminished  octagonal  plinth  has  the  advantage  of  taking  up 
less  room  on  the  pavement,  and  of  presenting  no  sharp  angles, — 
dangerous,  or  inconvenient,  to  passing  crowds,  —  it  is  less  satis- 


GOTHIC  PROFILES  IJV  FRANCE 


323 


factory  than  the  former  type  in  all  other  respects.  The  Gothic 
base  of  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century,  with  its  square  plinth 
and  angle  spurs,  is  unequalled  in  architectural  beaiuty  by  those 
of  the  later  character. 


Fig.  161. 


Fig.  162. 


Fir,.  163.  —  Paris. 

The  mouldings  of  the  bases  of  Amiens  are  not  so  subtle 
in  profile  (Fig.  166)  as  those  of  the  earlier  period  usually  are ; 
but  they  exhibit  one  interesting  peculiarity  —  that,  namely,  of 
an  extra  thickness  given  to  the  lower  torus  of  the  great  cen- 
tral  column.      The  mouldings    are   thus    proportioned    to    the 


3=4 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


magnitudes  of  their  respective  shafts  in  a  manner  corresponding 
to  that  in  which  the  several  capitals  of  the  head  of  the  pier  are 
proportioned  to  the  same  shafts,  as  remarked  above  (p.  128),  of 
the  compound  pier  of  Paris. 

The  development  of  the  profiles  of  string-courses  in  the 
Gothic  of  France  forms  one  of  the  most  interesting  minor 
branches  of  our  subject.  The  external  string  was,  during  the 
eleventh  century,  very  simple  in  form,  and  had  usually  a  flat, 
though    sometimes    a   sloping,    upper   surface.      The    profiles 


MS ^ — ^— "^ 


Fig.  164. 


Fig.  165. 


(Fig.  168)  from  the  small  Romanesque  Church  of  Nogent-les- 
Vierges,  near  Senlis,  sufificiently  illustrate  their  general  char- 
acter. In  the  earlier  transitional  buildings  the  same  forms  were 
retained  —  as  at  A,  Fig.  169,  from  St.  Evremond  at  Creil.  But 
the  early  Gothic  builders  soon  devised  changes  which  better 
adapted  the  string  to  the  exigencies  of  a  Northern  climate ;  and 
at  the  same  time  converted  it  into  one  of  the  most  pleasing 
architectural  features.  The  flat  upper  surface  was  objectionable 
because  it  afforded  lodgement  to  snows  in  winter,  and  caused 
incessant  spattering  against  the  walls  in  times  of  rain.^  It  was 
seen  that  it  must  be  avoided.  Innovations  were  accordingly 
made,  an  early  instance  of  which  occurs  on  the  exterior  of  the 


1  Cf.  Viollet-le-Duc,  s.v.  Bandeau,  p.  105. 


GOTHIC  PROFILES  I^  FRANCE 


325 


choir  of  the  Cathedral  of  Senlis  shown  at  B  (Fig.  169).  Here 
the  profile  (A)  of  St.  Evremond  of  Creil  is  modified  by  a  sloping 
upper  surface  ;  while  a  second,  deeper  course,  with  a  steeply- 
sloping  side,  is  placed  above  it  —  the  upper  wall  being  in  re- 
treat of  that  of  the  ground  story. ^  This  must  be  one  of  the  first 
instances  of  those  progressive  changes  which  led  to  the  forma- 
tion of  the  distinctively  Gothic  dripstone.     The  sloping  upper 


Fig.  166. 


surface  had,  indeed,  been  sometimes  given  before  this  time,  as, 
for  instance,  at  Morienval  (C,  Fig.  169);  but  before  the  middle 
of  the  twelfth  century  it  is  rare.  We  may  not  be  able  to  trace 
all  of  the   successive  steps  of  transformation,  but  before  the 

1  This  string  is  not  now  visible  from  the  exterior,  it  having  been  removed,  in  the 
course  of  subsequent  alterations,  from  those  portions  of  the  wall  which  are  still  exposed 
to  view.  But  in  the  space  over  the  vaults  of  the  more  recently  constructed  chapels 
on  the  south  side  of  the  choir,  east  of  the  old  sacristy,  portions  of  it  are  still  in  place. 


326 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


close  of  the  twelfth  century  the  form  A  (Fig.  170),  from  the 
nave  of  St.  Pierre  of  Chartres,  was  reached.  An  important 
function  of  the  Gothic  string-course  is  to  prevent  continuous 
washing  of  the  walls  in  times  of  heavy  rains. 
In  order  to  do  this  effectively  it  must  be  so 
formed  as  to  throw  off  the  water  quickly 
and  completely.  The  form  B  (Fig.  169)  of 
the  string  of  Senlis,  though  an  improvement 
on  that  of  St.  Evremond  (A  in  the  same 
figure),  is  still  imperfectly  adapted  to  this 
function ;  for  its  slope  is  a  broken  one,  and 
the  form  of  the  under  surface  is  such  that 
water  may  trickle  backwards  and  wash  the 
roll  moulding  beneath  continually.  But  in 
a  string  profiled  like  that  of  St.  Pierre  (A, 
Fig.  170)  the  drip  is  effectually  cut  off  when 
it  reaches  the  sharp  edge  formed  by  the  deep 
undercutting. 

Early  in  the  thirteenth  century  this  latter 
form  was  amplified  —  as  at  B  (Fig.  1 70),  the 
profile  of  the  cornice  of  the  ground  story  of 
the  cathedral  of  Amiens,  where  the  large 
hollow  added  beneath  affords  a  sheltered 
place  for  foliate  sculpture.  The  string  thus 
becomes  one  of  the  most  ornamental  features 
of  the  building ;  the  deep  hollow  gives  a 
vigorous  horizontal  line  of  shadow  which 
is  contrasted  by  a  line  of  light  caught  on 
the  projecting  round.  The  narrow  fillet 
under  this  gives  a  sharp  line  of  accent, 
while  the  regularly  spaced  bosses  of  carving 
in  the  lower  hollow  produce  a  line  of  ex- 
quisite enrichment.  Another  example  (Fig. 
171),  from  the  cornice  of  the  Cathedral  of 
Paris,  will  help  to  show  what  variety  was 
attained  without  adding  to  the  leading 
members  that  make  up  the  profiles  already 
noticed.  Hardly  any  two  Gothic  strings  have  the  same  profile ; 
but  the  variations  consist  in  changed  proportions  of  the  parts. 
In  these  developed  profiles  the  upper  surface  always  gives  a 


Fig.  167. 


GOTHIC  PROFILES  IN  FRANCE 


327 


Steep  straight  line,  the  lower  edge  forms  a  fillet  at  right  angles 
to  the  slope,  and  the  undercutting  of  the  adjoining  hollow  is 
deep  enough  to  prevent  any  trickling  back  of  the  drip. 


Fig.  168. 


The  set-offs  of  buttresses  are  profiled  like  string-courses,  as 
in  the  set-offs  of  Fig.  172,  all  from  the  Sainte  Chapelle  of  St- 
Germer-de-Fly. 


Fig.  169. 

The  function  of  the  internal  string  is,  of  course,  more  simple 
than  that  of  the  external  string.  It  is  merely  a  pronounced 
bond  course  marking  the  triforium  and  clerestory  divisions, 
and  the  dripstone  profile  is  therefore  uncalled  for  here.  The 
internal  string  of  the   Romanesque  architecture  of  the  Ile-de- 


3^8 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


France  is  very  plain  in  profile  —  as  at  A  (Fig.  173),  from  St. 
Etienne  of  Beauvais.   In  the  transitional  Gothic  it  becomes  a  little 


Fig.  170. 


Fig.  171. 


richer  —  as  at  B,  from  the  triforium  of  St.  Germer;  C,from  that  of 
Senlis;  D,  from  St.  Pierre  of  Chartres;  and  E,  from  the  ruined 
Abbey  Church  of  Longpont 
near  Soissons.  It  was  found, 
however,  that  a  fiat-topped 
string  placed  as  high  as  the 
triforium  hides  a  considerable 
part  of  the  members  above  it 
when  viewed  from  the  pave- 
ment of  the  nave,^  as  in  Fig. 
174,  where  if  the  visual  angle 
be  that  of  the  dotted  line  ab, 
the  portion  cb  of  the  vertical 
£  will  be  hidden  from  view. 
The  low  bases  of  early  tri- 
foriums,  high  above  the  pave- 
ment, might  thus  be  com- 
pletely out  of  sight.  But  if,  from  the  point  c,  the  string  be  cut  to 
a  sloping  line  so  as  to  bring  its  surface  nearly  parallel  with  the 


Fig.  172. 


^  Cf.  VioUet-le-Duc,  s.v.  Bandeau,  p.  105. 


GOTHIC  PROFILES  IN  FRANCE 


329 


line  of  vision,  as  in  the  triforium  string  of  the  nave  of  Paris  (Fig. 
175),  the  bases  will  not,  if  set  close  to  the  edge  of  the  string,  be 
hidden  from  view.  In  the  Cathedral  of  Paris,  however,  the  tri- 
forium arches  are  of  two  orders,  and  the  bases  of  the  shafts  of 
the  suborders,  being  necessarily  set  back  at  a  considerable  dis- 


tance from  the  edge  of  the  triforium  ledge,  are  quite  out  of  sight 
from  the  pavement,  notwithstanding  the  slope  given  to  the 
upper  part  of  the  string.  This  profile  was,  however,  rarely 
used  in  the  best  Gothic  period.  For  interior  strings  the  flat  top 
was   preferred,    and    the    bases    of    the   triforium    shafts   are 


/ 


/ 


Fig.  174. 


Fig.  175. 


Fig.  176. 


brought  into  view  by  being  raised  on  a  course  of  masonry.  At 
Chartres,  for  in.stance,  a  vertical  course  of  masonry  rises  above 
the  string,  so  that  the  bases,  which  are  set  flush  with  the  course 
on  which  they  rest,  are  in  full  view  from  the  pavement.  In  the 
nave  of  Amiens  the  richly  ornamented  string  (Fig.  176)  has  a 
simple  profile  with  the  flat  top.  The  triforium,  of  two  orders,  is 
here  set  back  considerably  so  as  to  bring  the  face  of  the  shaft 


330 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


which  carries  the  longitudinal  rib  of  the  vaulting  into  the  plane 
of  the  face  of  the  ground-story  wall.  This  gives  three  orders  of 
members  in  the  triforium  and  places  the  shafts  of  the  sub-orders 
very  far  back.  But  they  are  brought  into  view  by  being  raised 
on  a  high  course  of  masonry.  This  course  is  set  near  the  edge 
of  the  string,  and  is  profiled  with  a  long  slope,  a  fillet,  and  a 
round.  To  render  the  bases  effective  at  the  extraordinary 
height  of  this  triforium,  they  are  provided  with  very  high  plinths. 
By  thus  raising  the  members  which  would  otherwise  be  hidden 
by  the  flat-topped  string,  the  necessity  for  a  sloping  upper 
surface  to  the  string  itself  (which  too  much  resembles  that  of 
the  external  dripstone)  was  avoided. 


In  the  profiling  of  vault  ribs  and  archivolts  functional  exi- 
gencies, though  not  wholly  absent,  were  less  influential  than  in 
string-courses.  The  satisfaction  of  the  eye  was  here  more 
largely  the  controlling  motive  of  design.  The  characteristic 
profiles  were  developed  early;  and  few  changes  were  made  dur- 
ing the  period  through  which  the  style  retained  its  integrity. 
The  plain  square  transverse  rib  A  (Fig.  177),  frequently  used  in 
Romanesque  vaulting,  as  in  the  apsidal  aisles  of  Poissy,,  was 
heavy  in  appearance,  and  was  little  improved  by  the  chamfer 
that  was  sometimes  given  it  —  as  in  B  in  the  aisles  of  St. 
Etienne  of  Beauvais  and  the  apse  of  Morienval,  or  the  cove  C 
in  the  aisle  of  Bury.  In  the  apsidal  aisle  of  St.  Martin  des 
Champs  in  Paris  the  profiles  D,  E,  and  F  occur.  These  appear 
like  so  many  attempts  to  lighten  the  effect  of  these  ribs,  and  to 
produce  agreeable  combinations  of  mouldings;  but  the  results 
are  still  heavy  and  inelegant.     In  St.-Germer-de-Fly  and  else- 


GOTHIC  PROFILES  IN  FRANCE 


331 


where  the  transverse  rib  assumes  the  profile  A  (Fig.  178),  which 
in  the  apsidal  aisle  of  St.  Denis  has  the  improved  form  B.  This 
last,  with  slight  variations  of  the  details,  became  the  most  char- 
acteristic profile  for  this  member,  and  for  the  main  archivolts, 
during  the  remainder  of  the  twelfth  century.  This  form  of  rib, 
or  archivolt,  has,  it  will  be  seen,  a  square  section  with  its  edges 
softened  by  the  round  mouldings  which  are  contrasted  by  the 
dark  lines  of  the  deep  incisions.     The  profiles  of  these  incisions 


Gu_jO 


B 


D 


H 

Fig.  178. 


vary  considerably.  In  the  ground-story  archivolts  of  the  choir 
of  St.-Germain-des-Pres,  in  some  of  the  archivolts  of  Poissy  and 
elsewhere,  they  are  cut  in  at  right  angles  to  the  soffit  and  sides 
—  as  at  C,  giving  a  strong  narrow  line  of  dark  on  each  side 
of  the  round.  In  St.  Denis,  B,  a  lighter  and  more  elegant 
effect  is  obtained  by  the  inclined  direction  of  the  sides  of  the 
incisions,  and  by  the  curve  given  to  those  of  the  soffit.  In 
the  apsidal  aisles  of  Paris  the  curved  profile  is  given  to  the 
incisions  of  the  sides,  but  not  to  those  of  the  soffit,  as  in  D, 
while  in  the  diagonal  ribs  E,  from  the  same  vaulting,  a  still 
more  elegant  profile  is  produced  by  curving  the  sides  of  all  the 
incisions.     The  diagonal  ribs,  being  narrower  than  the  transverse 


332 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


ribs,  have,  when  this  profile  is  used,  the  flat  portion  of  the  soffit 
reduced  to  a  fillet,  as  shown  in  the  figure.  Less  common, 
though  not  infrequent,  early  rib  profiles  have  a  hollow  in  the 
middle  of  the  soffit  —  as  at  F,  from  the  choir  of  St.  Germer; 
G,  from  St.  Hildevert  of  Gournay;  H,  from  the  transept  of 
Taverny  near  Paris ;  and  I,  from  the  choir  of  Laon. 

The  diagonal  ribs  are  usually  of  a  different  profile.  In  the 
oldest  Romanesque  vaults  of  the  aisles  of  St.  Etienne  of  Beau- 
vais  they  are  rectangular  with  a  wide  bevel  on  each  edge.  In 
the  apse  of  Morienval,  and  other  contemporaneous  work,  they 
are  three-quarter  rounds,  as  at  A  (Fig.  179).  In  the  apsidal 
aisles  of  St.  Denis  the  profile  is  as  at  B,  while  at  Senlis  this 
form  is  improved  by  bringing  the  curves  together  in  a  more 
acute  edge,  and  by  introducing  a  sunk  fillet,  as  at  C.     The  size 


Fig.  179. 

of  the  single  round  of  a  diagonal  of  this  form  is  larger  than  the 
rounds  on  the  edges  of  the  square  transverse  and  longitudinal 
ribs ;  and  it  may  be  questioned  whether  this  gives  good  propor- 
tion.^ However  this  may  be,  any  objection  that  may  be  felt  on 
this  score  to  the  earlier  vaulting  was  avoided  in  the  Cathedral  of 
Paris  by  giving  substantially  the  same  profile  (D,  Fig.  1 78),  to  both 
diagonals  and  transverse  ribs.  The  rounds  of  the  smaller  ribs 
were  then  naturally  made  smaller  than  those  of  the  larger  ones, 
and  thus  good  proportion  was  secured.  At  Laon  the  profile 
D  (Fig.  179)  is  used  for  the  diagonals  in  connection  with  the 
profile  I  of  Fig.  178.  This  may  be  regarded  as  an  improve- 
ment on  the  earlier  combination  with  the  single  large  round  on 
the  diagonal  ;  but  the  rounds  of  these  diagonals  are  still  too 
heavy.  Another  combination  occurs  in  the  earlier  vaulting  of 
the  apsidal  chapels  of  Senlis,  where  the  profile  C  (Fig.  178)  of 


1  Cf.  Viollet-le-Duc,  s.v.  Profil,  p.  506. 


GOTHIC  PROFILES  IN  FRANCE 


333 


the  diagonals  is  associated  with  A  (Fig.  i8o)  of  the  transverse  ribs. 
The  lower  round  of  this  profile  is  large  enough  to  secure  good 
proportion ;  but  it  is  an  inelegant  form,  and  was  not  much  used 
after  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century.  Variations  of  this  pro- 
file, which  were  of  frequent  occurrence  before  1 1 50,  are  found 
in  the  diagonal  ribs  of  the  aisle  vaults  of  the  nave  of  Bury,  B, 
in  those  of  the  eastern  bay  of  Berzy-le-Sec  near  Soissons,  C, 
and  in  those  of  the  choir  of  Noyon,  D,  in  the  same  figure ; 
while  the  unusual  profile,  E,  occurs  in  the  sub-order  of  one  of 
the  transverse  ribs  of  Berzy-le-Sec,  and  the  form  F  in  Ville- 


neuve-sur-Verberil  (Oise).  At  Amiens  the  rib  loses  the  square 
section  of  the  more  general  type  by  the  addition  of  a  larger 
round  member  to  its  soffit,  as  at  A  (Fig.  181),  and  thus  is 
produced  what  may  be  regarded  as  the  perfected  Gothic  vault 
rib,  which  is  merely  a  more  elegant  variety  of  the  finest 
earlier  types.  The  added  member  strengthens  the  rib  in  the 
direction  of  the  downward  pressure  of  the  vault,  and  makes  it 
safe  to  reduce  its  width.  Great  lightness  of  effect  is  thus 
secured,  together  with  general  harmony.  This  is  a  beautiful 
profile  in  which  the  rounds  are  effectively  contrasted  by  the 
reverse  curves  of  the  incisions,  and  by  the  fillet  on  the  soffit. 

In  the  vaulting  of  the  nave  of  Amiens  this  profile  is  employed 
for  both  transverse  and  diagonal  ribs,  and  these  being  of  different 


334 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


Fig.  i8i. 


magnitudes,  and  the  parts  of  each  having  appropriate  scale,  good 
proportion  is  maintained  throughout,  as  in  the  case  of  the  more 
simply  profiled  ribs  of  the  Cathedral  of  Paris.     This  profile  was 

widely  used  in  vaulting 
after  the  first  quarter  of 
the  thirteenth  century ; 
and  it  was  not  materially 
altered  during  the  re- 
mainder of  the  best  pe- 
riod of  Gothic  art.  Nu- 
merous variations  occur, 
however,  in  the  propor- 
tions and  details  —  one 
instance  of  which  is 
found  in  the  choir  of  Beauvais  (B,  Fig.  i8i).  But  while  the 
vault  ribs  frequently  take  this  form  in  the  monuments  of  the 
first  half  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  the  main  archivolts 
retain,  in  most  cases,  the 
square  section  with  the  round- 
edge  mouldings  —  as  in  the 
ground-story  arcades  of  Am- 
iens and  Beauvais. 

The  adjustments  as  well 
as  the  forms  of  the  vaulting  capitals  were  generally  determined 
by  the  profiles  of  the  ribs.     When  in  the  early  Gothic  vaulting 

the  diagonal  ribs  had 
the  section  shown  at 
C  (Fig.  179,  p.  332), 
the  arrangement  of 
the  supporting  capi- 
tals was  as  in  Fig. 
182,  an  impost  from 
the  triforium  of  Sen- 
.  lis.  With  the  employ- 
ment of  the  square 
section  for  all  the  ribs 
the  arrangement  be- 
came as  in  Paris  (Fig.  46,  p.  114).  But  with  the  new  rib 
profile  of  Amiens  the  lateral  capitals  had  to  be  again  set  square 


Fig.  182. 


Fig.  183. 


X  GOTHIC  PROFILES  IN  FRANCE  335 

with  the  wall,  while  the  abacus  of  the  central  one  was  placed 
diagonally,  as  in  Fig.  183. 

The  only  remaining  members  whose  profiles  call  for  exami- 
nation are  mullions  and  tracery.  These  in  the  early  and  finest 
periods  are  simple.  The  oldest  form  of  muUion  is  a  plain 
rectangular  member  with  edges  bevelled  and  a  rabbet  on  each 
side  to  receive  the  glass,  as  at  St.  Leu  d'Esserent  (A,  Fig.  184). 
This  form  is  appropriate  in  connection  with  the  heavy  pierced 
tympanum  of  St.  Leu ;  but  in  connection  with  tracery  and  as  a 
member  whose  function  is  to  support  the  glass  of  an  opening 
with  the  least  obstruction  to  the  passage  of  light,  it  is  not  a 


Yw..  184. 

good  form.  The  mullion  has  to  resist  the  force  of  winds  press- 
ing inward.  In  large  openings  this  force  is  considerable,  and 
to  withstand  it,  the  mullion  requires  to  be  deep.  But  in  order 
that  it  may  offer  the  least  possible  obstruction  to  the  passage 
of  light,  it  is  necessary  that  it  should  be  as  narrow  as  is  consist- 
ent with  the  strength  that  is  needed  to  carry  the  weight  of  the 
tracery  with  which  it  is  charged.  These  exigencies  were  rec- 
ognized by  the  designer  of  the  dividing  members  of  the  apsidal 
openings  of  the  Cathedral  of  Reims,  and  the  mullion  section 
(B,  Fig.  184)  from  one  of  these  openings  established  the  typical 
Gothic  form,  which  was  but  slightly  modified  during  the  best 
epoch,  except  by  the  addition  of  other  members  similar  to  those 
of  which  this  section  is  composed,  in  cases  where  the  more 
numerous  divisions  of  larger  openings  called  for  larger  mullions 


336  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

and  tracery  with  lighter  subordinate  members.  The  apsidal 
openings  of  Reims  require  but  one  mullion  each,  and  all  of  the 
tracery  which  branches  out  of  it  has  the  same  profile.  But  in 
the  vast  openings  of  the  clerestory  of  Amiens,  three  mullions 
were  needed,  the  central  one  of  which  requires  to  be  stronger 
than  the  others.  It  is  therefore,  together  with  the  jambs, 
treated  as  of  two  orders  —  and  hence  has  the  profile  C  (Fig.  184), 
which  is  an  amplification  of  the  profile  of  the  secondary  mul- 
lions whose  section  is  given  within  that  of  the  larger  one.  The 
three  round  members  of  the  central  mullion  are  carried  out  in 
the  larger  tracery  which  branches  from  it,  while  the  single 
round  only  adorns  the  tracery  of  the  sub-order  which  springs 

from  the  simpler  secondary 
mullions.  A  variation  of  this 
profile  occurs  in  the  tracery 
of  the  Sainte  Chapelle  of  St. 
Germer  (dating  from  the 
^  middle  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
^^^'-  ^^^"  tury),    where    hollow    rounds 

take  the  place  of  the  sunk  fillets  of  the  profile  C.  No  marked 
further  changes  were  wrought  in  the  profiles  of  mullions  and 
tracery  until,  in  the  declining  Gothic,  sharp  and  multiplied 
arrises  took  the  place  of  the  rounds. 

It  may  here  be  remarked  that  the  hood-moulding  does  not 
generally  occur  before  the  thirteenth  century  ;  though  in  a  few 
cases  it  is  found  in  the  early  period  —  as  in  the  choir  and  apse 
of  St.-Germer-de-Fly.  After  1200  it  is  freely  employed  on  the 
outside  of  the  building,  and  sometimes  on  internal  arcades  also. 
On  the  outside  it  has  the  function,  though  not  always  the  pro- 
file, of  a  dripstone  ;  but  within  its  function  is  purely  ornamental. 
One  of  the  earliest  instances  of  its  external  use  appears  in  the 
apse  of  the  Cathedral  of  Reims  —  where  it  has  the  profile  A 
(Fig.  185),  the  hollow  being  adorned  at  intervals  with  bosses  of 
foliate  carving.  In  the  clerestory  of  Amiens,  the  sloping  top 
becomes  steeper,  and  the  hollow  is  diminished,  as  at  B.  In  the 
Sainte  Chapelle  of  St.  Germer  it  is  developed  as  at  C,  and  is 
surmounted  by  an  open  ornamental  gable. 

We  have  now  examined  the  most  characteristic  profiles  of 
the  several  Gothic  members  in  which  mouldings  occur,  and  it 
will  be  seen  that  during  the  best  period  of  the  style  they  are 


X  GOTHIC  PROFILES  IN  FRANCE  337 

simple  and  rational  in  character  and  elegant  in  effect.  Broadly- 
rounded  mouldings  are  pleasantly  contrasted  with  equally  broad 
hollows  and  flat  surfaces,  and  are  effectively  set  off  by  a  few 
fillets  and  deep  lines  of  emphatic  shade.  All  redundance  of 
parts  and  excessive  sharpness  of  accent  are  avoided  until  the 
period  of  decadence  —  which,  however,  begins  before  the  close 
of  the  thirteenth  century.  The  finest  Gothic  profiles  are  those 
of  the  latter  part  of  the  twelfth  century  and  the  beginning  of 
the  century  following. 


CHAPTER  XI 

PROFILES   OF  THE  TWELFTH   AND  THIRTEENTH   CENTURIES    IN 

ENGLAND 

The  pointed  architecture  of  England  of  the  twelfth  and 
thirteenth  centuries  differs  from  the-  Gothic  of  France  in  the 
profiles  of  its  capitals,  bases,  and  string-courses  no  less  than  in 
its  larger  structural  features.  This  difference  is  manifest  from 
the  earliest  times,  and  is  constantly  shown  except  in  cases  where, 
as  at  Canterbury,  French  workmanship  prevailed. 

We  may  begin,  as  in  the  preceding  chapter,  with  the 
profiles  of  capitals.  Among  the  earliest  and  finest  capitals 
of  England  are  those  of  the  east  transept  of  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Lincoln ;  and  the  best  of  these  are  in  the  triforium 
of  the  north  arm  (Fig.  i86).  It  will  be  seen  that  this  type  of 
capital  is  very  different  from  the  French  examples ;  but,  while  it 
lacks  the  qualities  which  distinguish  the  French  types,  it  has, 
nevertheless,  a  very  beautiful  and  appropriate  form.  Its  gen- 
eral shape  is  well  adapted  to  its  function  of  preparing  the  slender 
shaft  to  carry  a  bulky  load.  The  Corinthianesque  outline  of  its 
bell  is  at  once  graceful  and  functionally  expressive ;  and  its 
simple  foliate  ornamentation,  clasping  the  lower  member  of  the 
round  abacus,  is  designed  with  subtle  art.  The  round  abacus, 
a  form  which  agrees  with  the  arch  section  employed,  presents 
no  overhanging  angles  requiring  support  from  crockets ;  and 
the  designer  has  accordingly  invented  an  entirely  new 
ornamental  scheme  in  harmony  with  these  conditions.  The 
same  general  type  is  carried  out,  with  many  beautiful  minor 
variations,  in  most  of  the  capitals  of  Bishop  Hugh's  choir  and 
transept,  especially  in  the  richly  designed  wall  arcades  of  the 
ground  story.  But  associated  with  them  are  a  few  others  of  a 
different  character,  which  suggest  the  cooperation  of  a  different 
school  of  workmen.  Of  these  Fig.  187  is  an  illustration.  In  this 
capital  we  have  a  curious  and  significant  combination  of  incon- 
gruous elements.     The  round  abacus,  which  is  a  characteristic 

338 


CHAP.  XI 


PROFILES  IN  ENGLAND 


339 


feature  of  Norman  and  Anglo-Norman  design,  is  joined  to 
a  bell  of  thoroughly  French  Gothic  type.  A  glance  at  Fig,  149, 
p.  311,  will  illustrate  this.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  crockets 
here  employed  are  altogether  French  in  character  and  arrange- 


Fk;.  186. —  Lincoln. 

ment,  and  have  the  appearance  of  having  been  wrought  by 
French  workmen,  who,  being  required  to  conform  to  the  general 
Anglo-Norman  scheme  in  employing  the  round  abacus,  pro- 
duced a  form  of  capital  which  has  not  the  merits  of  either  the 
French  or  the  Anglo-Norman  types.  Associated  with  the  round 
abacus  the  crockets  are  meaningless  and  spoil  the  general  out- 


340  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

line,  while  the  abacus,  which  is  too  small  for  good  proportion, 
has  no  appearance  of  organic  connection  with  the  bell.  The 
total  result  is  awkward  and  unsatisfactory,  notwithstanding  that 
the  crockets  themselves  are  very  beautiful,  and  have  the  refine- 
ment of  execution  which  belongs  to  the  finest  French  work,  a 
refinement  that  is  rarely  approached  in  the  works  of  Anglo- 
Norman  carvers. 


Fig.  187 


Capitals  of  this  mixed  character  are  curiously  interspersed 
with  those  of  the  local  type  in  nearly  all  of  the  arcades  of  this 
early  portion  of  Lincoln  Cathedral.  In  the  south  triforium  they 
are  used  exclusively  in  the  first  and  second  bays  counting  from 
the  western  transept.  Other  still  different  capitals  occur  in 
these  arcades.  They  have  crockets  arranged  as  in  the  preced- 
ing examples,  but  they  differ  from  them  in  design  and  execution. 
They  appear  to  be  English,  or  Anglo-Norman,  imitations  of  the 


XI 


PROFILES  IIV  ENGLAND 


341 


French  work.  One  of  them  (Fig.  188),  from  an  earlyportion  of 
the  west  transept,  will  serve  for  illustration.  The  general  out- 
line is  better  than  that  of  Fig.  187,  but  the  derails  of  design  and 
execution  are  not  like  French  work  —  being  less  finished  and 


Fig.  188.  —  Lincoln. 

having  peculiar  elements  which  will  be  considered,  in  another 
chapter,  in  connection  with  the  subject  of  foliate  sculpture. 
Figure  189  exhibits  another  type  of  frequent  occurrence.  It  is 
a  modification  of  the  type  shown  in  Fig.  186,  p.  339,  but  hardly 
an  improvement  on  that  beautiful  early  form.    The  ornamentation 


342 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


is  redundant,  and  has  the  effect  of  a  mere  wreath  encircling  the 
bell,  whose  profile  is  largely  hidden.  Yet  as  compared  with  later 
capitals  in  England,  it  has  merits.  The  ornamentation  in  itself 
is  architectural  and  beautiful,  and  the  general  outline,  though  it 
has  lost  the  Corinthianesque  character,  is  compact  and  not  un- 
graceful. 


Fig.  : 


Lincoln. 


Before  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century  the  tendency  to 
redundance  of  ornament  became  strong;  and  this,  quite  as  much 
as  the  round  abacus,  characterizes  the  later  forms  of  so-called 
early  English  capitals.  The  profile  of  the  bell  is  in  great  part 
lost  to  view  in  such  capitals,    as  may  be  seen  in  Fig.   190,  a 


XI 


PROFILES  IN  ENGLAND 


343 


group  of  capitals  from  the  arcade  of  the  north  choir  screen  of 
Lincoln.  The  crockets  here,  reaching  far  out  from  the  bell, 
have  no  function,  or  functional  expression  ;  and,  although  their 
lines  have  much  abstract  ornamental  value,  they  lack  the  monu- 
mental restraint,  and  the  quiet  beauty,  of  the  best  art. 

Of  still  different  character  are  the  nearly  contemporaneous 
capitals  (Fig.  191)  of  the  transept  and  eastern  end  of  the  nave  of 

17, 


Fk;.  190. —  Lincoln. 

Wells  Cathedral.  These  are  peculiar,  and  appear  to  be  the  work 
of  a  local  school,  whose  influence  is  noticeable  at  Glastonbury 
also.  They  differ  widely  from  anything  at  Lincoln,  and,  while 
in  many  points  resembling  French  work,  they  do  not  appear  to 
be  wholly  French.  The  polygonal  abacus,  the  adjustment  of 
the  crockets,  and  the  details  of  execution  are  conspicuously 
French  ;  but  the  general  form  and  excessive  projection  of  the 
crockets  are  Anglo-Norman  characteristics.  The  profile,  irre- 
spective of  the  crockets,  is  distinctly  French. 


344 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


A  very  common  type  of  capital  in  England  in  the  thirteenth 
century  is  the  plain  moulded  capital  (Fig.  192).  This  capital 
has  no  foliate  ornamentation  whatever,  but  is  adorned  with  a 
series  of  mouldings  only,  and  looks  as  if  it  might  have  been 
turned  out  on  a  lathe.  It  is  extensively  used  in  many  of  the 
most  important  monuments  of  the  so-called  Early  English  style, 
as  in  Westminster  Abbey,  Salisbury,  Beverley,  and  Southwell. 
It  is  rarely  a  capital  of  good  profile,  and  its  effect  is  bald  and 
monotonous  in  the  extreme. 


l!|  III;;: 


Fig.  191.  —  Wells. 


As  a  general  rule,  nearly  all  of  the  mouldings  of  the  abacus 
in  England  are  rounded.  The  upper  member,  whether  in  the 
interior  or  on  the  exterior  of  the  building,  has  more  or  less  of 
the  form  of  the  drip  mould,  as  at  A  (Fig.  193),  from  the  arcade 
of  the  interior  of  the  west  transept  of  Lincoln.  B,  in  the  same 
figure,  is  the  profile  of  the  capital  (Fig.  190)  from  the  choir 
screen  of  Lincoln,  while  exceptional  profiles,  apparently  show- 
ing French  influence,  are  C  and  D,  from  Glastonbury  and 
Wells  respectively. 

The  profiles  of  bases  in  the  early  pointed  architecture   of 


XI 


PROFILES  IN  ENGLAND 


345 


England  are  often  particularly  fine.  In  many  cases  they  some- 
what resemble  those  of  the  French  Gothic,  though  they  are 
generally  made  up  of  a  larger  number 
of  mouldings,  and  these  mouldings 
rarely  have  the  subtle  forms  of  the 
finest  French  models.  The  profile  A 
(Fig.  194),  from  the  choir  of  Lincoln, 
is  characteristic  of  the  best.  Such  pro- 
files give  a  very  spreading  form  to  the 
base,  and  their  hollows  are  deeply  cut, 
giving  strong  lines  of  shade.  The  pro- 
file B,  in  the  same  figure,  from  the  nave, 
and  C,  from  the  presbytery  of  the  same 
cathedral,  illustrate  more  simple  types, 
which  are  often  of  considerable  elegance. 
But  base  profiles  of  this  fine  character 
are  not  of  constant  occurrence.  Such 
poor  ones  as  A  (Fig.  195),  from  the 
choir  of  Ely,  B  and  C,  from  the  triforium 
of  the  nave  of  Lincoln,  D,  from  the  tri- 
forium of  the  choir  of  Hexham,  and  E, 
from  the  clerestory  of  the  choir  of  Whitby,  are  not  uncommon. 
The  square  plinth,  like  the  square  abacus,  is  unusual  in 
England.  The  whole  base  is  commonly  round  in  plan,  and  of 
the  superimposed  courses  of  which  the  plinth  is  made  up,  one 


Fig.  192.  —  Beverley. 


FIG.  193. 


cr  more  are  usually  moulded,  giving  a  profile,  as  at  A  (Fig.  196), 
from  the  aisle  of  the  choir  of  Lincoln,  or  B,  in  the  same  figure, 
from  the  choir  of  the  Temple  Church  in  London.  The  square 
plinth  being  absent,  there  was,  of  course,  no  place  for  the  griffc, 
and  thus  the  base  lacks  the  variety,  and  the  expression  of  firm 


346 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


foothold,  which  give  so  much  character  and  beauty  to  the  bases 
of  the  French  Gothic.  In  a  few  instances,  however,  the  square 
plinth  occurs.     In  the  French  work  of  the  choir  of  Canterbury 


it  is  found,   of  course,  and  the  griffe  occurs  with  it.     In  the 
north  porch  of  Wells  is  a  shafted  arcade,  whose  bases  rest  on  a 


D 


ledge  which  is  above  the  eye  level.  These  bases  have  square 
plinths,  and  the  grijfes  with  which  they  are  furnished  are  appro- 
priately placed  on  the  under  side  of  the  torus,  as  in  Fig.  197. 


XI 


PROFILES  IN  ENGLAND 


347 


The  characteristic  profile  of  the  string-course  in  this  archi- 
tecture is  made  up  almost  exclusively  of  curves,  as  at  A  (Fig. 
198),  from  the  choir  of  Lincoln.  The  principle  of  the  dripstone 
is  developed  partially,  but  not  with  strict  logic  nor  with  much 
beauty  of  line.  The  straight,  steep  watershed  does  not  gen- 
erally occur,  nor  the  sharp-edged  fillet.  Often,  even  in  impor- 
tant buildings,  the  upper  member  has  nothing  of  the  dripstone 
profile.     At  Salisbury,  for  instance,  the  external  string  at  the 


A  B 

Fig.  196. 

level  of  the  aisle  window  sills  has  the  ungraceful  and  meaning- 
less profile  shown  in  Fig.  199,  where  the  upper  member  is  a 
heavy  half-round.  The  best  English  string  profile  is  that  of 
the  so-called  beak  moulding,  B  (Fig.  198),  from  Glastonbury. 
An  approach  to  the  French  Gothic  string  profile  is  sometimes 
found  in  early  work,  as  in  the  profile  C,  in  the  same  figure,  from 
the  clerestory  of  the  choir  of  Lincoln,  and  at  Wells  the  curious 
profile  D  occurs,  the  upper  part  of  which  is  like  that  of  a  French 
string. 

In    English   pointed   architecture   during  the  whole  of  the 


548 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


thirteenth  century,  the  corbel-table  is  often  introduced  beneath 
the  string.  It  occurs  in  Salisbury,  in  the  Presbytery  of  Lincoln, 
and  in  many  other  equally  advanced  buildings. 

Internal  strings  do  not  much 
differ  from  those  of  the  exterior. 
A  characteristic  example  is  that 
shown  at  E  (Fig.  198),  from  the 
aisle  of  the  choir  of  Lincoln  ;  and 
another  characteristic  form  is 
shown  at  F,  from  the  triforium 
string  of  the  same  choir. 

In  arch  mouldings  the  Anglo- 
Norman    architects    displayed    a  ^'*^-  ^97- 
singular  predilection  for  a  multiplicity  of  members  varying  in 
profile  and  separated  by  deep  hollows.     In  this  way  a  consider- 
able effect  of  lightness  was  given  to  arches  that  were  really 
very  massive.     Even  in  the  purely  Norman  buildings,  such  as 


Fig.  198. 

St.  Albans,  Norwich,  Romsey,  Ely,  Peterborough,  and  many 
others,  indications  of  this  tendency  are  shown  by  the  general 
employment  of  at  least  three  orders  in  the  main  arcades,  and 
each  of  these  orders  is  frequently  subdivided  into  numerous 
mouldings.  This  multiplication  of  orders  naturally  led  to  the 
rounded  impost  section  to  which  the  round  abacus  was  not 
seldom  adjusted  with  good  effect,  as  at  Southwell  (Fig.  200). 
And  in  the  early  pointed  style  the  rounded  section  was  soon 


XI 


PROFILES  IN  EXGLAND 


349 


given  to  each  separate  order  by  the  peculiar  arrangement  of  the 
rounds,  hollows,  and  fillets  into  which  these  orders  were  sub- 
divided. An  early  instance,  among  many  others,  occurs  in  the 
great  archivolts  of  Malmesbury  Abbey  (Fig.  201).  Another 
peculiarity  is  noticeable  here  which  was  also  retained  and  am- 
plified in  the  arch  profiles  of  the  early  English  architects,  that, 
namely,  of  the  depression  between  the  rounds  of  the  soffit  of  the 
sub-order.     Both  of  these  characteristics  are  developed  in  the 


Fig.  199, 


archivolts  of  St.  Mary's  Church,  New  Shoreham,  and  are  still 
further  amplified  in  the  pier  arches  of  the  choir  of  Lincoln 
(Fig.  202 ).i  In  the. nave  of  the  same  building  the  archivolts  be- 
come richer  by  the  addition  of  a  third  order ;  and  each  order 
here  assumes  an  almost  perfectly  segmental  section.  Equally 
elaborate  archivolts  of  the  same  character  are  found  in  the  nave 
of  Salisbury. 

'  I  would  emphasize  the  fact  of  the  resemblance  of  the  archivolt  profiles  of  the 
choir  of  Lincoln  to  those  of  the  nave  of  Malmesl)ury,  because  it  has  been  erroneously 
affirmed  by  Mr.  Parker  and  others  that  the  choir  of  Lincoln  is  a  purely  English  work 
in  which  no  traces  of  Norman  influence  appear. 


35° 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


The  variations  of  arch  profiles  which  characterize  the  early 
pointed  architecture  of  England  are  practically  endless ;  but 
they  need  not  be  considered  further.     They  are  often  made  up 


Fig,  201. 


of  good  parts,  skilfully  contrasted,  but  they  are  almost  always 
over-elaborated.  The  minute  subdivisions  and  the  frequent  in- 
troduction of   narrow   fillets,   which  became   constant   by   the 


Fig.  202. 


middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  produce  a  hard  linear  effect. 
The  best  English  profiling  is  that  of  the  earliest  pointed  monu- 
ments. The  mouldings  of  Bishop  Hugh's  choir  of  Lincoln,  for 
instance,  contrast  agreeably,  in  their  greater  simplicity,  with  the 


XI 


PROFILES  IN  ENGLAND 


351 


Fig.  203. 


redundant  profiling  of  the  arcades  of  the  presbytery  of  the  same 
church. 

The  profiles  of  vault  ribs  are  not  materially  different  from 
those  of  the  archivolts.  The  double  rounds,  separated  by  a 
hollow,  on  the  sofiit  are  common.  In  the  choir  of  Lincoln  the 
principal  ribs  of  the  aisle  vaults 
are  almost  identical  in  section 
with  the  sub-orders  of  the  pier 
arches.  In  diagonals  the  profile 
(Fig.  203),  from  the  choir  of  Lin- 
coln, is  characteristic.  The  lower 
member  of  this  profile  resembles 
the  corresponding  member  of  the 
rib  profiles  of  Amiens  and  Beau- 
vais  (Fig.  181,  p.  334);  but  the 
details  are  different  —  having  the 
multiplicity  of  parts,  the  deep 
hollows,  and  the  numerous  fillets 
already  spoken  of  as  characteris- 
tic of  Anglo-Norman*  work.    The 

rectangular  section  of  the  fillet  on  the  bottom  of  the  lower 
round  is  characteristic  of  Anglo-Norman  treatment,  and  is  in 
contrast  with  the  gentle  curves  of  the  sides  of  the  French 
fillets.  Another  noticeable  peculiarity  of  the  EngHsh  rib  profiles 
is  that  of  the  joining  of  rounds  and  hollows  by  continuous 
curves,  whereas  in  France  these  curves  intersect  sharply,  giving 
accent  to  the  mouldings.  The  fillets  on 
the  lower  rounds  are  sometimes  curved 
-^  J     on  the  sides    in    England  as  well   as    in 

/  (~\  r\\      France  —  as  in  Fig.  122,  p.  223,  profiles 

^~^  from  the    Presbytery    of   Lincoln.      The 

continuity  of  the  reversed  curves  is  here 
again  noticeable  in  the  joining  of  the 
rounds  and  hollows.  This  treatment  ap- 
pears to  be  of  Norman  origin,  and  is  frequently  met  with  in 
the  profiling  of  the  early  Norman  Gothic  of  the  continent,  as 
in  Fig.  204,  a  transverse  rib  from  the  vaulting  of  the  apsidal 
aisle  of  Lisieux. 

Thus  a  careful  comparison  of  Anglo-Norman  profiles  with 
those  of  the  French  Gothic  architects  shows  that  they  differ  one 


Fig.  204. 


352  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap,  xi 

from  the  other  as  much  as  do  the  respective  structural  forms. 
The  Anglo-Norman  genius  possessed  many  admirable  qualities, 
but  it  was  distinctly  inferior  to  the  French  in  fine  and  original 
artistic  aptitudes.  Where  the  French  architect  kept  his  orders 
few,  and  his  arch  mouldings  broad  and  effective,  the  Anglo- 
Norman  multiplied  his  orders,  and  subdivided  them  into  nu- 
merous narrow  mouldings.  And  he  did  this  not  merely  in 
consequence  of  a  predilection  for  multiplicity  of  parts,  but 
largely  because  of  the  nature  of  his  structural  system.  An 
arcade  which  carried  a  very  heavy  wall  required  at  least  three 
orders  of  archivolts  to  give  it  any  lightness  of  effect.  The 
lightness  of  the  French  Gothic  style  was  the  natural  result 
of  its  peculiar  constructive  system. 

We  need  not  consider  the  profiles  of  mullions  and  tracery  in 
England,  because,  as  before  remarked  (p.  226),  the  openings  of 
the  so-called  early  English  style  were  generally  simple  lancets 
without  dividing  members.  When,  during  the  second  half  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  great  openings  with  tracery  came  into  vogue, 
the  profiling,  like  the  tracery  itself,  followed,  for  the  most  part, 
that  of  the  Gothic  of  France,  though  rninor  peculiarities  of 
detail,  corresponding  to  those  which  we  have  noticed  in  the  pro- 
filing of  vault  ribs,  sometimes  occur. 


CHAPTER   XII 


PROFILES   OF    THE    TWELFTH    AND    THIRTEENTH    CENTURIES    IN 
GERMANY,   ITALY,   AND    SPAIN 

No  noteworthy  changes  from  Romanesque  models  appear 
to  have  been  made  in  the  profilings  of  German  churches  during 
the  twelfth  century.  In  the  capitals  of  the  pointed  buildings  of 
the  early  thirteenth  century  the  influence  of  the  cushion-shaped 
capital  of  the  Rhemish  Romanesque  architecture  is  often  notice- 
able.    In  such  capitals  the  lower  part  of   the  bell  usually  has 


Fig.  205.  —  Magdeburg. 


Fig.  206.  —  Heistfrbach. 


something  of  the  Corinthianesque  form,  as  those  of  the  nave  of 
Magdeburg  (Fig.  205).  Capitals  of  similar  form  are,  indeed, 
frequent  in  the  transitional  Gothic  of  France,  as  in  Senhs  and 
many  other  buildings  of  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century. 
But  in  Germany  they  occur  in  monuments  that  were  constructed 
more  than  half  a  century  later.  By  the  second  quarter  of  the 
thirteenth  century  the  Corinthianesque  Gothic  type  of  France 
was  introduced,  and  many  beautiful  examples  of  it  occur  in 
Bonn,  in  Limburg  on  the  Lahn,  in  St.  Gereon  of  Cologne,  and 
elsewhere.  In  the  apse  of  Heisterbach  capitals  of  the  first 
type  just  mentioned  assume  very  singular  and  curiously  inele- 
gant shapes,  as  in  Fig.  206.  These  are  associated  with  others 
2A  353 


354 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP, 


of  more  graceful  outlines,  while,  in  the  upper  arcade  of  the 
same  apse  are  capitals  of  wholly  different  character,  having 
round  abaci  and  plain  mouldings,  substantially  like  those  which 
are  common  in  the  early  pointed  architecture  of  England. 
Before  1250  the  profiling  of  capitals  becomes  more  peculiarly 
German.  The  bell  (in  large  pier  capitals)  often  becomes  lower 
in  proportion  to  its  diameter ;  and  while  the  concaved  outline  is 
retained,  this  outline  is  largely  obscured  by  a  double  row  of  bossy 
leafage.     The  abacus,  in  such  capitals,  is  round  in  plan,  and  its 

profiling  is  made  up  of  rounded  mem- 
bers, as  in  the  Liebfrauenkirche  of  Trier 
(Fig.  128,  p.  246),  and  in  St.  Elizabeth  of 
Marburg.  In  the  Liebfrauenkirche  the 
smaller  capitals  have  a  more  distinctly 
Corinthianesque  form.  Those  of  the 
vaulting  shafts  adjoining  the  apse  are 
of  the  French  Gothic  type,  while  those 
of  the  smaller  arcades  have  round  abaci 
and  a  likeness  to  early  English  types. 
In  some  parts  of  the  nave  of  Marburg 
the  plain  moulded  capital  again  occurs. 
The  influence  of  France  is  thus  shown 
at  this  period  in  the  forms  of  capitals, 
no  less  than  in  the  larger  architectural 
features ;  but  with  a  subordinate  influence  from  England,  such 
as  from  the  historic  relations  of  the  two  countries  we  might 
naturally  expect  to  find. 

It  was  not  until  after  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century 
that  the  most  distinctly  German  forms  of  capitals  were  produced, 
examples  of  which  are  found  in  the  choir  of  Cologne  Cathedral ; 
a  monument  which  (though  purely  French,  as  we  have  seen,  in 
its  structural  system)  is  largely  German  in  its  ornamental  details. 
Figure  207,  a  capital  from  the  triforium  of  this  choir,  affords  a 
characteristic  illustration. ^  Here  the  bell  (the  most  beautiful 
part  of  all  fine  capitals)  can  hardly  be  said  to  exist.  The  shaft 
itself,  in  effect,  passes  up  through  the  neck  moulding  and  is  sur- 
rounded by  two  zones  of  leafage  of  a  dry  and  graceless  character. 
Just  below  the  abacus  this  shaft  expands  in  a  short  curve  which 
is  almost  wholly  hidden  by  the  upper  zone  of  leafage.    The  pro- 

^  Figure  207  is  taken  from  Boisseree. 


Fig.  207.  —  Cologne. 


XII  PROFILES   OF  GERMANY,   ITALY,   AND   SPAIN  355 

filing  of  the  abacus  is  far  removed  in  character  from  that  of 
French  models,  and  is  singularly  hard  and  poor.  In  the  naves 
of  Strasburg  and  Freiburg,  French  Gothic  types  are  again  repro- 
duced, though  in  some  cases,  as  in  the  vaulting  capitals  of  Frei- 
burg, with  a  wide  departure  from  the  grace  and  beauty  of  the 
best  French  designs. 

Bases,  like  capitals,  in  the  early  part  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury are,  in  Germany,  substantially  of  the  early  French  Gothic 
form,  in  some  cases  with  the  angle  spur,  as  in  Bonn,  and  in 
others  without  this  feature,  as 
in  Limburg.  In  many  of  these 
bases  the  profiling  has  a  de- 
gree of  beauty  almost  equal 
to  that  of  French  work,  as  in 
the  trif orium  of  Limburg ;  but 
the  extreme  refinement  of  con- 
tour which  is  found  in  the  fin- 
est Gothic  bases  of  France  is 
hardly  ever  to  be  met  with  in 
Germany.  Often  in  the  later 
German  pointed  buildings  the 
base    profiles    are  noticeably 

poor,  as  in  the  nave  piers  of  Marburg,  where  a  single  ogee 
moulding  takes  the  place  of  the  great  and  little  tori  with  the 
scotia  and  fillets  of  the  true  Gothic  base. 

The  same  general  likeness  to  French  models  is  found  in  the 
profiles  of  archivolts,  vault  ribs,  string  courses,  and  mullions, 
until  a  very  late  period,  when  the  subdivisions  of  mouldings  are 
greatly  increased,  and  sharp  arrises  take  the  place  of  rounded 
forms,  as  in  the  elaborate  mouldings  of  the  west  end  of  Cologne. 
But  before  this  latter  condition  is  reached  the  pier  archivolts  and 
other  kindred  members  often  have  much  the  same  character  as 
those  of  the  later  Anglo-Norman  architecture,  — the  salient  mem- 
bers having  fillets,  and  being  separated  one  from  another  by 
excessively  deep  hollows,  as  in  Fig.  208,  the  profile  of  a  pier 
archivolt  of  Cologne. 

The  profiles  of  the  pointed  architecture  of  Italy  are  very 
diverse  in  character.  No  generally  recognized  principles  seem 
to  have  governed  the  designers  in  their  production  at  any  period. 
In  many  cases,  especially  in  the  capitals  and  bases  of  the  early 


356 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


Cistercian  and  other  buildings  which  have  the  most  of  Gothic 
character,  the  French  Gothic  profiles  are  closely  reproduced, 
while  often,  at  the  same  time,  they  are  widely  departed  from,  as 
in  the  nave  of  St.  Francis  of  Bologna,  where  the  capitals  of  the 
octagonal  piers  are  low  in  proportion  to  their  height,  and  thus 
resemble  those  of  such  German  monuments  as  the  Liebfrauen- 
kirche  of  Trier.  In  his  more  independent  productions  in  this 
field  the  Italian  designer  displays  little  inventive  aptitude,  but 
follows  a  capricious  fancy  with  little  regard  to  functional  needs, 


Fig.  209.  —  Sta.  Maria  Novella. 

and  not  seldom  in  violation  of  all  principles  of  grace  and  beauty. 
As  might  be  expected,  his  native  classic  bent  displays  itself 
more  or  less  constantly,  though  in  the  pointed  architecture  of 
Italy  neither  Gothic  nor  classic  principles  are  ever  consistently 
adhered  to. 

For  illustration  of  the  types  of  capitals  and  bases,  which  in 
the  native  pointed  art  have  the  most  of  Gothic  form,  we  may 
take  those  of  the  nave  of  Sta.  Maria  Novella  in  Florence  (Fig. 
209).  In  general  form  and  proportions  these  capitals  lack  the 
beauty  of  French  models;  and  they  have  little  elegance  of  outline. 


xn  PROFILES  OF  GERMANY,   ITALY,   AND  SPAIN         357 

A  tendency,  which  became  strong  in  Italy,  to  adorn  the  bell 
with  two  continuous  rows  of  leafage  is  already  established. 
That  beautiful  and  appropriate  feature,  the  crocket,  is  not  in- 
cluded in  the  design,  there  is  no  continuous  curve  from  the 
necking  to  the  abacus,  and  the  capitals,  while  not  bad  in  the 
total  effect  of  the  group,  are  devoid  of  the  charm  of  the 
best  French  examples.  A  few  capitals  in  this  nave  have 
some  elegance  of  form  ;  but  they  incline  as  much  to  classic  as 
to  Gothic  types.  In  the  Church  of  Sta.  Croce  the  octagonal 
columns  have  capitals  of  much  taller  proportions,  and  many  of 
them  have  considerable  beauty.  The  loads  which  they  carry 
have,  however,  little  more  bulk  than  the  columns  themselves,  and 
thus  they  have  little  of  the  distinctively  Gothic  function  or  form 
adapted  to  that  function.  As  I  have  before  remarked  (p.  274), 
the  capitals  of  the  nave  of  the  Cathedral  of  Florence  are  hardly 
capitals  at  all,  but  are  rather  ornamental  bands  of  leafage  follow- 
ing the  section  of  the  compound  pier.  The  load  is  here,  as  we 
have  also  before  seen,  of  precisely  the  same  size  and  section  as 
the  pier  itself ;  and  the  capital,  such  as  it  is,  has  no  profile  which 
departs  from  the  upright  straight  lines  of  the  pier  except  in  the 
mouldings  of  the  abacus. 

Italian  bases  are  almost  as  various  in  form  as  the  capitals,  and 
are,  except  in  the  earliest  buildings,  equally  unlike  Gothic  in  their 
profiles.  The  profile  A,  Fig.  210,  from  a  pier  of  the  nave  of  Sta. 
Maria  Novella,  closely  resembles  early  French  models,  and  bases 
of  a  more  developed  Gothic  character  sometimes  occur,  espe- 
cially in  connection  with  small  shafts,  as  in  the  wall  arcades  of 
St.  Francis  of  Assisi.  But  in  the  distinctly  native  pointed  Italian 
architecture  the  profiles  of  bases  are  very  different.  The  profile 
B  in  the  same  figure,  for  instance,  from  the  Cathedral  of  Florence, 
is  almost  as  poor  as  the  capital  of  the  same  pier  which  we  have 
just  noticed.  Like  the  capital  it  consists  of  little  more  than  a 
series  of  mouldings  surrounding  the  pier  and  following  its  section. 
No  well-formed  footing  for  the  body  of  the  pier  is  provided. 
The  straight  line,  ab,  in  this  profile  does,  indeed,  project  a  little 
beyond  the  face  of  the  pier,  but  the  enlargement  is  too  slight  to 
be  readily  appreciated  by  the  eye.  In  the  profile  C  from  Sta. 
Croce,  this  straight  line  is  brought  farther  out,  and  the  character 
of  a  base  is  thus  more  fully  attained ;  but  the  very  salient  portion 
at  the  bottom  is  an  awkward  and  uni^raceful  feature. 


358 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


Archivolts,  and  transverse  vaulting  ribs,  in  Italian  pointed 
architecture,  are  commonly  of  plain  square  section  without  sub- 
divisions or  adornments  of  any  kind.  They  may,  however,  be, 
as  is  Sta.  Croce  of  Florence,  of  two  orders  of  very  slight  pro- 
jection, or  they  may  have  a  plain  fillet  following  the  extrados,  as 
in  the  cathedral  of  the  same  city.  Nothing  like  the  moulded 
sections  of  these  members  is  common  except  in  early  buildings 


where  transalpine  influences  have  prevailed,  as  in  the  transverse 
ribs  of  St.  Andrea  of  Vercelli,  which  have  French  Gothic  profiles. 
Diagonal  ribs  are  commonly  bevelled,  but  they  are  rarely  other- 
wise adorned.  The  diagonal  ribs  of  the  Cathedral  of  Florence, 
however,  have  the  section  shown  in  Fig.  211,  where  the  intro- 
duction of  the  cyma  recta  is  one  of  the  many  indications,  notice- 
able in  the  Italian  art  of  the  Middle  Ages,  of  the  hold  that  classic 
elements  of  design  retained  on  the  minds  of  the  builders. 


XII  PROFILES   OF   GERMANY,   ITALY,   AND   SPAIN 


359 


Outside  strings  and  cornices  almost  invariably  exhibit  the 
classic  profiling  with  little  essential  modification.  Anything 
like  the  Gothic  dripstone  is  rare  in  Italy.  The  upper  surfaces 
of  the  outside  mouldings  are  in  some  cases  bevelled,  as  in  the 
Cathedral  of  Florence,  but  more  often  they  are  flat,  even  in 
buildings  that  have  most  Gothic  character,  as  in  St.  Francis  of 
Assisi.  Frequently,  as  in  Florence  Cathedral,  the  main  cornice 
is  carried  on  corbels,  and  is  made  to  support  a  low  parapet.  In 
the  profiling  of  all  such  features  classic  and  Romanesque  char- 
acteristics predominate. 


Fig.  211. 


The  dependence  of  Spain  on  France  was  as  great  in  respect 
to  profiling  as  we  have  seen  that  it  was  in  matters  of  general 
design  and  construction.  In  early  pointed  buildings,  like  the  old 
Cathedral  of  Salamanca,  the  capitals  and  bases  are  purely  French 
in  aspect,  and  must,  in  most  cases,  it  would  seem,  have  been 
wrought  by  French  workmen.  This  continues  to  be  the  case 
until  after  about  1220,  when,  in  the  Cathedral  of  Burgos  and  else- 
where, an  English  influence  seems  to  make  its  appearance  in  the 
substitution  of  the  round  for  the  square  abacus,  as  well  as  in 
some  other  details.  Nothing  peculiar,  that  can  be  considered 
as  the  result .  of  a  native  artistic  influence,  appears  in  these 
details  at  any  period  of  pointed  design  in  Spain.  In  vault  ribs 
and  archivolts  a  peculiar  massiveness  is  noticeable,  as  before 
remarked  (p.  284),  in  early  buildings;  and  in  such  buildings,  as 
in  Salamanca,  transverse  ribs  and  the  sub-orders  of  archivolts 
are,  as  in  Italy,  generally  square  \vithout  any  mouldings.  In 
respect  to  the  general  imitation  of  French  models  outside 
mouldings  form  no  exception  to  those  of  the  interior.  So  little 
is  there  in  the  profilings  of  Spain  that  is  in  any  way  peculiar  to 
the  country  that  no  detailed  consideration  of  them  is  necessary. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

GOTHIC   SCULPTURE   IX   FRANCE 

The  fact  that  a  remarkable  school  of  sculpture  —  a  school 
far  in  advance  of  all  others  of  the  Middle  Ages  —  was  developed 
during  the  twelfth  century,  in  connection  with  the  Gothic 
architecture  of  the  Ile-de-France,  has  not,  hitherto,  been  duly 
recognized  by  students  of  the  history  of  the  Fine  Arts.  Modern 
writers,  following  Vasari,  have  so  generally  regarded  Italy  as 
the  country  of  the  earliest  revival  of  the  arts,  and  have  so 
fixed  in  our  minds  the  names  of  Pisano  and  Cimabue  as  the 
pioneers  of  the  revival,  that  we  are  naturally  unprepared,  so 
far  as  our  notions  have  been  derived  from  the  literature  of  the 
subject,  to  find  that  a  no  less  remarkable  revival  had  place  in 
the  north  of  Euroj^e  a  hundred  years  before  the  great  Italian 
awakening. 

Attention  has  been  called  by  Flaxman,^  and  more  recently  by 
Cockerell,^  to  the  fact  that  the  west  facade  of  Wells  Cathedral 
stands  as  a  witness  to  the  existence  of  an  advanced  school  of 
sculpture  in  Northern  Europe  contemporaneous  with  the  art 
of  Niccola  Pisano ;  but  the  significance  of  this  fact  has  made 
little  impression.  And  neither  Flaxman  nor  Cockerell  appears 
to  have  recognized  the  further  fact  that  a  century  before  the 
date  of  the  sculptures  of  Wells,  a  school  of  sculpture  was  in 
existence  across  the  channel  which  had  produced  w^orks  at 
Corbeil,  at  St.  Denis,  and  at  Chartres  of  still  greater  merit. 

The  earliest  schools  of  sculpture  on  this  side  of  the  Alps 
were  those  of  Southern  Gaul,  where  longer  than  elsewhere  the 
ancient  Roman  civilization  had  retained  its  life  and  vigour;  and 
where,  as  we  have  already  seen,  the  soil  was  thickly  covered 
with  Roman  monuments.  Among  these  were  vast  numbers  of 
sculptures  which,  coarse  and  inferior  as  they  for  the  most  part 

1  Lectures  on  Sculpture.    London,  1829. 

2  Iconography  of  the  west  front  of  Wells  Cathedral,  Oxford  and  London,  1851. 

360 


CHAP.  XIII 


GOTHIC  SCULPTURE  IN  FRANCE 


361 


Fig.  212. 


were,  afforded  models,  in  some  measure  characteristic,  of  the 
great  art  of  antiquity.  Upon  such  models  the  mediaeval  sculp- 
tors of  this  region  naturally  formed  their  style,  just  as  the  con- 
structors formed  their  architectural  system  on  that  of  the  extant 
Roman  buildings. 

But  the  productions  of  the  mediaeval  sculptors  of  Southern 
Gaul  abundantly  show  that  other 
sources  of  instruction  and  inspiration 
were  also  open  to  them  in  the  works 
of  Byzantine  art  —  an  art  which,  in  its 
best  forms,  was  of  a  far  more  ad- 
mirable and  potent  character  than 
the  decadent  provincial  Roman  art. 

The  principal  examples  of  Byzan- 
tine design  offered  as  models  to  the 
artists  of  the  West  were  the  manu- 
script illuminations  and  the  carvings 
in  ivory,  large  numbers  of  which 
were  possessed  by  the  great  mo- 
nastic   houses    of    the    early    Middle 

Ages,  most  of  which  were  active  centres  of  artistic  culture  and 
production.  Of  these  manuscripts  and  carvings  many  are  still 
preserved  in  the  National  Library  of  Paris  and  in  other  great 
European  collections.  The  miniatures 
with  which  the  pages  of  these  manu- 
scripts are  profusely  adorned  are  worthy 
of  special  attention.  They  afford  a  notion 
of  Byzantine  art  very  different  from  that 
which  is  derived  from  the  writings  of 
Vasari,  or  from  the  formalized  productions 
of  the  school  of  Mount  Athos,  and  are 
often  superior  in  design  to  the  splendid 
mosaics  of  Venice  and  Ravenna.  They 
exhibit  little  of  the  stiffness,  inelegance, 
and  semibarbaric  rudeness  that  are  com- 
monly conceived  to  be  characteristic  of  Byzantine  work.  They 
frequently  display  a  remarkable  degree  of  grace,  action,  and 
expression.  Figures  212  and  213,  from  a  Byzantine  manuscript 
of  the  tenth  century,^  will  convey  some  idea  of  their  character, 

1  Ms.  No.  64,  National  Library,  Paris. 


Fir..  213. 


362  ■  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

though  much  of  their  beauty  is  lost  by  the  absence  of  the 
colouring  and  the  subtle  refinement  of  their  microscopic  finish. 
The  student  of  Greek  art  will  not  fail  to  perceive  in  these 
diminutive  figures  ^  many  qualities  that  are  plainly  of  Hellenic 
origin.  The  composition  of  lines  and  the  casting  of  draperies 
are  closely  similar  to  those  of  the  finest  Greek  coins  and  other 
reliefs.  In  such  works  as  these  were  some  of  the  fundamental 
principles  of  ancient  Greek  art  preserved  to  the  Middle  Ages ; 
and  their  influence  upon  the  early  art  of  Southern  and  Central 
Gaul,  and  afterwards  upon  the  Gothic  schools  of  the  North, 
will,  upon  comparison,  become  apparent. 

The  degree  of  classic  feeling  and  skill  in  design  which  were 
sometimes  reached  in  these  early  schools  of  Gaul,  and  which 
were  largely  due  to  the  Byzantine  influence,  is  shown,  for  in- 
stance, in  the  sculptures  upon  the  lintel  of  the  Church  of  Notre 
Dame  du  Port,  Clermont-Ferrand,  which  date  from  the  close  of 
the  eleventh  century,  and  of  which  Fig.  214  represents  a  single 
figure  of  exceptional  beauty.  The  similarity  of  this  early 
mediaeval  art  of  France  to  ancient  Greek  art  is,  in  some  cases, 
even  more  striking,  and  is  often  such  as  to  almost  compel  belief 
that  there  must  have  been  some  more  direct  transmission  of 
principles  and  methods  of  design  than  has  been  supposed. 
The  similarity  of  treatment  is  not  seldom  surprising.  The  well- 
known  convention  in  the  treatment  of  hair  in  archaic  and  early 
Greek  sculpture  of  arranging  it  in  parallel  wavy  tresses  brought 
down  from  the  crown  of  the  head  and  terminated  in  a  zone  of 
formal  curls  about  the  forehead,  as  in  Fig.  215,  the  head  of  the 
Apollo  of  the  Temple  of  Zeus  at  Olympia,  for  instance,  is  re- 
produced completely  in  the  head  (Fig.  216)  from  the  tympanum 
of  the  portal  of  Moissac.  In  so  far  as  this  peculiarity  is  con- 
cerned the  two  works  might  almost  appear  to  be  products  of 
one  age  and  one  school.  It  is  noticeable,  also,  that  this  pecu- 
liarity is,  in  both  schools,  most  marked  in  early  works.  In 
archaic  Greek  art  such  conventions  are  very  pronounced.  The 
two  characteristics  of  the  treatment  of  hair  just  noticed  are  not, 
indeed,  always  found  in  archaic  Greek  sculpture ;  other  equally 
conventional  modes  of  arrangement  occur.  The  zone  of  formal 
curls  is  sometimes  omitted,  and  the  hair  is  often  parted  with 
wavy  tresses  falling  down  on  either  side  of  the  forehead  and 

^  These  figures  are  of  about  the  same  size  as  the  originals. 


GOTHIC  SCULPTURE  IX  FRAXCE 


363 


temples,  or  otherwise  varied ;  but  whatever  the  arrangement  of 
locks  and  tresses  may  be,  a  similar  regularity  of  details,  and  the 
same  simplified  and  conventional  treatment,  are  practically  con- 
stant. The  Greek  sculptor,  even  of  an  advanced  period,  seems 
to  have  felt  that  stone  does  not  lend  itself  to  any  imitative 
rendering  of  hair,  and  he  took  evident  pleasure  in  making  it 
emphatically  conventional.  The  monumental  and  ornamental 
value  of  this  treatment  was   also,    it  is  clear,  appreciated  by 


I  I  IIIMI 


Fig.  214.  —  Notre  Dame  du  Port. 


him;  and  hence  it  does  not  disappear  until  the  period  of  the 
decadence  of  Greek  art. 

With  a  few  exceptions,  as  in  the  case  of  the  school  of 
Toulouse,^  to  which  the  sculptures  of  Moissac  (of  which  the 
head.  Fig.  216,  is  an  example)  belong,  the  schools  of  sculpture 
that  arose  south  of  the  Loire  were  not  progressive  schools. 
They  rarely  displayed  any  original  powers,  or  any  fresh  artistic 

1  Cf.  VioUet-le-Duc,  s.v.  Sculpture,  pp.  125,  126. 


364 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


purpose.  They  were  traditional  schools  without  vitality,  they 
gave  birth  to  no  important  developments,  and,  although  for  a 
time  their  activity  was  vigorous,  after  the  twelfth  century  they 
passed  into  decline. 

North  of  the  Loire,  however,  the  case  was  different.  In 
Burgundy  the  monastic  carvers,  by  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth 
century,  produced  works  which,  though  still  not  freed  from  the 
limitations  of  primitive  artistic  conditions,  gave  evidence  of  a 
new  impulse  guided  by  a  fresh  observation  of  nature.     Of  this 


_  '•■  E.H.M. 

Fig.  215.  —  Olympia. 

sculpture  the  Abbey  Church  of  Vezelay  and  the  Cathedral  of 
Autun  afford,  in  the  jambs  and  tympanums  of  their  portals,, 
characteristic  examples.  These  are,  indeed,  curious,  and  almost 
barbaric  in  general  aspect ;  but  they  are  also  remarkable  for 
movement  and  expression,  as  well  as  for  a  marked  survival  of 
classic  qualities  of  composition.  M.  Viollet-le-Duc  has  called 
attention  1  to  two  figures  of  apostles  carved  on  one  of  the  jambs 
of  the  portal  of  Vezelay.  They  appear  engaged  in  animated 
conversation,  and  their  gestures  are  finely  caught  from  nature. 
Among  the  smaller  figures  of  the  tympanum  above  these  are 

1  S.v.  Sculpture,  pp.  1 1 3,  1 14. 


GOTHIC  SCULPTURE  IN  FRANCE 


365 


some  of  surprising  freedom  of  action  and  truth  of  form,  though 
archaic  conventions  are  still  conspicuous. 

The  works  of  these  early  schools  of  the  South  and  of  Bur- 
gundy, together  with  those  examples  of  Byzantine  art  that  were 
common  in  the  monastic  libraries,  appear  to  have  constituted 
the  chief  sources  of  stimulus  and  guidance  open  to  the  early 
sculptors  of  the  Ile-de-France,  whose  works  soon  surpassed  in 
excellence  all  that  had  been  previously  done  since  the  decline 
of  the  ancient  schools  of  Greece.     In  the  Ile-de-France  the  con- 


FlG.  216.  —  Moissac. 


ditions  for  the  growth  of  a  school  of  sculpture  were,  by  the 
beginning  of  the  twelfth  century,  exceptionally  good.  Not  only 
was  the  race  itself,  as  we  have  before  noticed,  peculiarly  well 
fitted  for  artistic  pursuits,  and  the  conditions  of  climate  favour- 
able, but  the  geological  formation  of  the  country  was  such  as  to 
meet  all  the  requirements  of  this  new  art.  As  Greece  had  her 
Paros  and  Pentelicus,  and  Italy  had  her  Carrara,  so  France  had, 
in  the  basins  of  the  Seine  and  the  Oise,  her  beds  of  lias  cliqiiart, 
a  stone  of  fine  grain  and  strong  substance,  easily  cut  and  suit- 
able for  delicate  carving. 


366 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


^3S 


•  r»^ 


W 


Of  figure  sculpture  in  the  Ile-de-France  we  have  few  exam- 
ples of  an  earlier  date  than  the  second  quarter  of  the  twelfth 

century.  But  from  about  1140  remains 
are  extant  which  show,  together  with 
the  imperfections  peculiar  to  an  im- 
mature art,  a  grace  and  mastery  of  de- 
sign, a  truth  and  tenderness  of  sentiment, 
and  a  fineness  and  precision  of  chiselling, 
that  are  unparalleled  in  any  other  schools 
save  those  of  ancient  Greece  and  of  Italy 
in  the  fifteenth  century.  Conspicuous 
among  the  early  works  of  this  most 
noble  school  are  the  statues  of  the  north 
transept  of  the  Church  of  St.  Denis. 
They  are  life-sized  figures  of  kings, 
and  are  ranged  against  the  shafts  of  the. 
jambs  on  either  side  of  the  portal.  These 
statues  possess  merits  never  before  at- 
tained in  Northern  Europe ;  though  at 
first  sight  they  may  not  impress  the  be- 
holder as  much  superior  to  the  early 
works  that  had  been  produced  elsewhere 
in  the  North.  On  attentive  examination, 
however,  their  remarkable  qualities  will 
be  apparent  to  a  discriminating  and  ap- 
preciative eye.  If  they  be  compared 
with  the  works  of  the  sculptors  of  South- 
ern Gaul,  —  as,  for  instance,  with  the 
statues  of  the  cloister  of  St.  Trophime 
at  Aries  (Fig.  217),  which  are  even  later 
in  date,  —  their  superior  qualities  will  be 
felt.  In  this  example  it  will  be  noticed 
(JP*'*'W  I'S?^^^  that,  notwithstanding  the  fine  classical 
casting  of  the  draperies,  there  is  much 
of  the  rigid  effect  which  is  noticeable  in 
the  more  formal  types  of  Byzantine  art. 
Traces  of  Byzantine  convention  in  the 
treatment  of  the  draperies  are  clearly  marked.  This  is  true 
especially  on  the  breast,  where  the  folds  are  suggested  by  sim- 
ple incised  lines  on  surfaces  which  are  but  very  slightly  mod- 


'<: 


' 


Fig.  217.  —  St.  Trophime. 


XIII 


GOTHIC  SCULPTURE  IN  FRANCE 


367 


^ 


% 


^\^ 


\ 


f^> 


)  /./■ 


died.  In  the  heads  and  hands  a  degree  of  angularity  is 
apparent,  and  a  tendency  to  model  in 
planes,  which  bespeak  a  comparatively 
rude  art.  In  the  sculptures  of  St.  Denis 
(Fig.  218)  these  defects  do  not  appear. 
In  the  head  and  extremities  there  is  no 
block-like  treatment.  The  forms  are 
modelled  into  the  rounded  surfaces  of 
nature,  the  features  are  delicately 
wrought,  the  hair  and  beard,  which  are 
grandly  massed,  are  subdivided  into 
orderly  locks  in  a  thoroughly  Greek 
manner;  and  while  every  part  is  deli- 
cately finished  there  is  no  over-elabora- 
tion, nor  has  any  attempt  been  made  to 
give  the  hard  stone  an  undue  look  of 
pliancy.  Yet  the  carver  has  wrought 
the  important  details  with  special  care, 
—  the  thin,  gently  compressed  lips,  the 
light,  parted  mustache,  and  the  well- 
formed  chin.  The  drapery  is  as  simple 
and  well  composed  as  is  that  of  the 
figure  of  Aries ;  but  it  exhibits  a  supe- 
rior grace  of  line,  and  although  the 
work  is  wanting  in  the  freedom  and 
skill  of  later  Gothic  works,  there  is 
hardly  any  trace  of  the  formal  Byzan- 
tine conventions.  The  statue  manifests 
a  new  spirit  and  a  high  order  of  genius. 
It  already  embodies  those  fundamental 
architectural  qualities  of  design  which 
distinguish  Gothic  sculpture. 

The  most  splendid  collection  of  early 
Gothic  statues  extant  is  that  of  the  west 
front  of  the  Cathedral  of  Chartres. 
These  sculptures  date  from  about  the 
middle  of  the  twelfth  century ;  and 
though  even  more  severely  architectural 
in  character  than  the  figures  of  St.  Uenis,  they  have  not  the 
stiff  and  block-like  effect  of  the  sculptures  of  St.  Trophime. 


/i 


'l\\ 


I 


7/ 


]h 


\ 


St.  Denis. 


368 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


/ 


\y: 


k 


In  execution  they  are  remarkably  refined  and  delicate.  The 
heads  display  a  variety  and  lifelikeness  that 
indicate  a  close  observation  of  nature.  Each 
one  has  an  air  of  veracity  as  if  it  were  the 
portrait  of  an  individual.^  The  treatment  of 
hair  and  beards  is  at  once  monumental  and 
true  to  nature ;  while  the  draperies,  though 
severely  conventionalized  and  even  archaic  in 
character,  are  in  some  cases  remarkably  faith- 
ful in  the  modelling  of  folds,  and  elegant  in 
arrangement.  In  short,  these  statues  are  by 
no  means  the  stiff  and  immobile  objects  which 
an  inattentive  observer  might  fancy  them  to 
be.  Their  erect  and  formal  postures,  elongated 
proportions,  and  severe  modelling  are  largely 
the  result  of  deliberate  architectural  purpose 
rather  than  of  incapacity  on  the  part  of  the 
carvers  to  give  them  more  natural  freedom  of 
movement  and  more  developed  form.  This 
becomes  evident  on  attentive  examination. 
Within  the  limits  fixed  by  the  conditions  to 
which  he  had  to  conform  the  artist  has,  in 
each  case,  shown  great  ability  and  skill  as  a 
lifelike  and  graceful  designer.  Take,  for 
instance,  the  statue  Fig.  219.  Although,  in 
common  with  all  the  others,  standing  erect 
and  facing  forward,  the  upper  portions  of  this 
figure  are  not  wholly  wanting  in  ease  and  even 
grace.  The  positions  of  the  arms  are,  as 
compared  with  those  of  Fig.  217,  both  natural 
and  apparently  capable  of  movement.  The 
composition  of  lines  in  the  head  and  shoul- 
ders, the  easy  fall  of  that  portion  of  the 
mantle  which  crosses  the  throat,  the  modelling 
of  it  over  the  breast  and  arms,  and  the  delicate 
rounding  of  the  hfted  hand  —  all  bespeak 
artistic  powers  superior  to  those  of  the  sculp- 
tor  of    Aries.      The   rigid    restraint    of   the 

figure  is  apparently  self-imposed  in  obedience  to  the  demands 

1  Cf.  M.  Viollet-le-Duc,  s.v.  Sculpture,  p.  Ii8. 


i 


Fig.  219.  —  Chartres. 


XIII  GOTHIC  SCULPTURE  IN  FRANCE  369 

of  its  architectural  connection.  The  rigidity  of  the  statue  of 
St.  Trophime  appears,  on  the  other  hand,  to  be  inherent  in  its 
nature. 

Contemporaneous  statues  Hke  those  of  Chartres  flank  the 
south  portal  of  the  Cathedral  of  Le  Mans,  and  several 
others  (now  at  St.  Denis)  have  been  preserved  from  the  de- 
stroyed Church  of  Notre  Dame  of  Corbeil.  These  earliest  ex- 
amples of  Gothic  figure  sculpture  deserve  more  study  than  they 
have  hitherto  received.  Their  architectural  appropriateness  is 
most  admirable,  and  their  archaic  characteristics  are  favourable 
to  monumental  effect.  The  multiplicity  of  narrow  vertical  folds 
in  the  draperies  and  the  formal  zigzags  of  their  edges  harmo- 
nize well  with  the  architectural  lines,  and  help  to  produce  the 
effect  of  integral  relationship  with  the  structure.  The  likeness 
to  ancient  art  is  here  surprising.  The  treatment  of  the  draperies 
is  almost  identical  with  that  of  certain  archaic  Greek  statues 
which  have  been  found  in  the  island  of  Delos.  Though  more 
developed  in  form  than  these  early  Gothic  works,  one  of  these 
ancient  Greek  statues  might,  if  wrought  in  French  limestone, 
and  slightly  modified  in  outline,  stand  in  the  west  portal  of 
Chartres  without  apparent  lack  of  keeping. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  the  mediaeval  architect  in  France 
did  not,  as  a  rule,  employ  the  human  figure  in  the  manner  of  a 
caryatid.  The  ranges  of  statues  which  adorn  the  vast  receding 
jambs  of  the  portals  of  French  churches  are  usually  placed 
each  against  a  shaft  which  bears  the  archivolt.  Or  if  the  shaft 
and  the  statue  are  wrought  out  of  one  stone,  they  are  each 
distinctly  developed  enough  to  show  that  the  shaft  is  the  sup- 
porting member.  To  make  the  figure  itself  an  architectural 
support  would  not  be  in  accordance  with  the  logical  spirit  of 
Gothic  art.^  Nor  in  true  Gothic  works  are  statues  set  in  niches; 
for  in  Gothic  architecture  the  walls  are,  as  we  have  seen,  re- 
duced to  a  minimum  both  in  extent  and  thickness,  and  neither 
walls  nor  buttresses  contain  more  substance  than  is  necessary, 
so  that  there  is  nothing  to  spare  for  recesses.  The  sheltered 
places  sometimes  occupied  by  statues,  as  in  the  buttresses  of  the 

^  It  is  true  that  corbels  are  often  carved  into  the  forms  of  heads  and  crouching 
figures,  as  at  Amiens  and  elsewhere,  but  these  are  minor  features.  Exceptions  occur, 
■of  course,  as  in  the  figure  treated  as  a  caryatid  in  the  pier  buttress  of  the  nave  of 
Reims, 

2B 


370  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

Cathedral  of  Paris,  are  not  in  reality  niches.  They  are  not 
spaces  hollowed  out  of  the  solid  masses.  They  are  nothing 
more  than  ornamental  additions  to  the  set-offs.  The  set-off  in 
such  cases  has  a  level  ledge  on  which  the  statue  rests  with  a 
sheltering  canopy  built  over  it.  These  may  be  elaborated  and 
multiplied,  as  in  the  magnificent  pinnacled  canopies  that  shelter 
the  statues  of  the  buttresses  of  Reims.  The  nearest  approach 
to  niches  in  pure  Gothic  occurs  in  the  spaces  between  the 
mouldings  of  the  archivolts  of  portals  in  which  diminutive  cano- 
pies are  set  over  small  statues,  as  in  the  portal  of  the  Virgin 
of  the  Cathedral  of  Paris.  In  general  it  may  be  said  that  it  is 
only  in  the  decline  of  Gothic  that  real  niches  occur,  as  in  the 
facades  of  the  transepts  of  Paris.^ 

Statues  in  Gothic  art  are  thus  without  mechanical  office 
(except  in  certain  positions,  as  in  the  canopies  of  buttresses, 
where  their  weight  may  be  of  importance  in  the  construction)  ; 
but  they  are  so  much  in  harmony  with  the  construction  as  to 
seem  to  belong  to  it.  In  no  other  art  has  the  union  of  struc- 
tural and  ornamental  elements  been  so  close  and  inseparable. 

The  Gothic  statuary  of  the  twelfth  century  is  always 
severely  conventional ;  though,  as  we  have  seen,  it  is  not  want- 
ing in  expression  of  life.  But  the  artists  of  the  early  thirteenth 
century  were  able  to  give  more  freedom  to  their  figures  without 
materially  diminishing  their  architectural  value.  Before  we 
pass  to  the  consideration  of  these  more  advanced  works,  how- 
ever, we  must  examine  a  few  examples  of  the  relief  sculpture  of 
the  twelfth  century. 

Besides  the  jambs  and  archivolts,  where  figure  sculpture  in 
the  full  round  was  effective,  the  tympanum  and  lintel  of  the 
portal  presented  within  easy  view  admirably  protected  fields  for 
relief  sculpture.  On  these  limited  surfaces  the  architectural 
restraints,  though  still  imperative,  were  not  of  the  same  kind  as 
those  which  governed  the  forms  of  the  statues  of  the  jambs. 
Grouping  and  freedom  of  movement  were  possible  in  this 
situation,  and  relief  compositions  embracing  many  figures  in 
free  action,  setting  forth  some  scriptural  story  or  religious 
legend,  were  here  elaborately  wrought. 

1  Exceptions  to  this  rule  occur,  of  course.  Among  these  may  be  mentioned  the 
real  niches  in  the  gable  of  the  central  portal  of  the  west  front  of  Bourges.  Cf.  VioUet- 
le-Duc,  s.v.  Niche,  p.  414  et  seq. 


XIII  GOTHIC  SCULPTURE  IN  FRANCE  371 

Among  the  earliest  remaining  examples  of  such  composi- 
tions are  those  of  the  tympanums  of  the  portals  of  the  west 
front  of  St.  Denis  and  the  tympanum  of  the  south  door  of  the 
west  fagade  of  the  Cathedral  of  Paris.  The  sculpture  of  this 
latter  tympanum  was  carved  during  the  administration  of 
Maurice  de  Sully,  the  founder  of  the  cathedral,  and  it  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  either  a  part  of  an  earlier  facade  or  of  one 
that  was  projected.^  The  preservation  of  this  work  and  its 
incorporation  with  the  new  facade  show,  on  the  part  of  the 
artists  of  the  early  thirteenth  century,  a  generous  recognition  of 
merit  in  the  works  of  their  predecessors.  In  these  sculptures 
the  qualities  already  noticed  as  characterizing  the  early  art  of 
the  Ile-de-France  are  noticeable.  In  the  upper  portion  of  the 
tympanum  the  Virgin  is  represented  in  high  relief  enthroned 
under  a  shafted  canopy  with  angels  and  other  figures  on  either 
side.  The  forms  are  modelled  with  delicate  skill,  and  the  move- 
ments are  easy  and  graceful.  The  work  manifests  a  genuine 
artistic  spirit,  though  the  conventions  and  archaisms  of  the 
primitive  schools  are  still  strongly  marked. 

Among  other  works  of  this  class  which  were  executed  dur- 
ing the  twelfth  century,  the  reliefs  of  the  lintel  of  the  Cathedral 
of  Senlis  are  of  surpassing  beauty.  They  are  two  in  number, 
the  lintel  being  divided  into  two  parts  by  a  central  shaft  carved 
on  its  face.  The  subjects  represented  are  the  Death  of  the 
Virgin  and  the  Resurrection  of  the  Virgin.  The  first  composi- 
tion, on  the  spectators'  left,  is  so  much  mutilated  that  it  cannot, 
by  itself,  be  fairly  judged.  But  the  one  on  the  right  (Plate  X), 
representing  the  resurrection,  though  also  sadly  broken  in  parts, 
is  yet  tolerably  complete  as  a  whole.  It  is  not  easy  to  find 
terms  in  which  to  convey  an  adequate  idea  of  the  merits  of  this 
remarkable  work.  In  sentiment  and  grace  it  is  equalled  by  few 
reliefs  of  any  school  or  period.  The  archaisms  of  treatment 
which  it  exhibits,  like  those  of  the  subsequent  masterpieces  of 
painting  by  Giotto,  —  which  the  work  in  many  points  resembles, 
—  do  not  unpleasantly  affect  its  charm.  It  is  an  instructive 
fact,  not  often  enough  considered,  that  the  works  of  art  of 
past  ages  in  which  sentiment  and  expression  are  the  most 
touching  and  admirable  are  usually  those  of  early  masters  who 
have  but  imperfectly  attained  command  of  technical  processes. 

^  Cf.    M.  F.  de  Guilhermy,  Itiniraire  Archeologique  de  Paris,  pp.  68,  69. 


372  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

With  the  full  attainment  of  technical  skill  artificial  qualities  of 
design  and  affectations  of  expression  are  apt  to  be  manifest. 
Compare,  for  instance,  Giotto's  fresco  of  the  Death  of  St. 
Francis  with  Raphael's  Transfiguration  ;  or  Carpaccio's  Sleep- 
ing St.  Ursula  with  Titian's  Assumption.  In  this  relief  of  the 
lintel  of  Senlis  there  is  a  tenderness  of  expression  and  a  natural 
unity  of  movement  in  the  eager  group  of  welcoming  angels  as 
they  press  forward  to  aid  the  awakening  soul.  No  exaggerated 
gesture  and  no  affected  grace  mar  its  subtle  beauty.  The  angelic 
attendants  are  absorbed  in  their  joyful  ministry  to  the  rising 
spirit,  and  each  figure  contributes  its  part  with  consummate 
though  unconscious  art.  In  composition  of  lines  and  placing 
of  masses  the  design  has  extraordinary  merit.  The  wings  and 
draperies  are  harmonious  and  balanced,  and  the  forms,  though 
technically  imperfect,  have  a  naiVe  charm.  It  would  be  hard 
to  find,  in  the  whole  range  of  plastic  art,  a  figure  of  less  con- 
ventional pose,  or  more  subtle  beauty,  than  the  angel  on  the  left 
who  stoops  forward  to  support  the  shoulder  of  the  Virgin.  The 
slight  lack  of  symmetry  which  may,  at  first  glance,  be  felt  in 
the  total  scheme  is  corrected  by  the  adjoining  composition 
when  the  lintel  is  viewed  as  a  whole.  But  even  by  itself  the 
design  is  not  ill  balanced.  A  pyramidal  arrangement  of  the 
central  masses  is  noticeable ;  and  it  will  be  seen  that  the  stoop- 
ing figure  and  the  upright  shaft  on  the  left  form  opposing  and 
balancing  lines  to  the  stooping  figure  and  the  erect  one  on  the 
right.  The  central  figure  in  the  upper  row  on  the  right,  for 
which  there  is  no  counterpart  on  the  left,  serves  to  break  up 
any  too  marked  formality  of  arrangement,  and  to  complete  the 
natural  grouping  through  which  an  orderly  principle  of  design 
is  fully  maintained.  As  in  all  other  noble  art  it  is  here  evident 
that  the  artist  was  animated  by  no  theoretic  ideal.  No  conven- 
tional elegance,  no  artificial  types,  were  as  yet  sought.  The 
types  are  common  and  are  rendered  with  archaic  simplicity. 
The  charm  of  the  work  depends  upon  its  genuine  sentiment, 
its  rhythmical  grace,  and  its  well-ordered  design.  So,  too,  it 
was  with  the  early  art  of  Greece.  The  same  underlying  prin- 
ciples give  to  the  reliefs  of  the  Harpy  Tomb,  and  the  Leucothea 
of  the  Villa  Albani,  a  kind  of  beauty  that  is  wanting  in  the 
more  technically  perfect  art  of  Scopas  and  Praxiteles.  And  so 
it  was  again  with  the  works  of  the  early  Italian  designers.     The. 


xiii  GOTHIC  SCULPTURE  IN  FRANCE  373 

polished  but  artificial  types  of  form,  and  the  meretricious  refine- 
ments, which  belong  to  the  later  developments  of  Italian  art,  do 
not  appear  before  the  sixteenth  century.  The  types  of  Giotto, 
of  Angellico,  and  of  Massaccio  exhibit  no  artificial  character : 
they  are  the  familiar  types  of  the  men  and  women  whom  the 
artists  found  about  them ;  but  with  such  types  these  great 
artists,  like  those  of  France  in  the  twelfth  century,  knew  how 
to  produce  works  of  exalted  beauty.  I  do  not,  however,  mean 
to  imply  that  archaic  treatment  and  common  types  are  neces- 
sary characteristics  of  the  greatest  art.  I  would  merely  empha- 
size the  fact  that  hitherto  (except  perhaps  in  Greek  art)  the 
work  most  distinguished  by  power  and  variety  of  expression 
has  exhibited  these  imperfections.  The  integrity  of  feeling 
manifest  by  early  masters  seems,  as  has  been  often  observ^ed, 
to  be  lost  before  technical  perfection  is  reached.  The  plastic 
art  of  France  in  the  twelfth  century  does  not  exhibit  any 
of  those  superficial  attractions  which  appear  at  a  later  epoch ; 
but  in  essential  merits  it  is  not  inferior  to  that  of  any  other 
time  or  school.  Of  this  art  there  is  hardly  a  more  admirable 
example  extant  than  the  lintel  of  Senlis.  And  this  work  is 
no  less  meritorious  in  execution  than  in  design  and  senti- 
ment. Wrought  in  a  fine,  close-grained  stone,  which  takes  a 
finish  almost  equal  to  that  attainable  in  marble,  every  mass  is 
finely  modelled  and  every  detail  is  crisply  cut.  The  number  of 
works  of  this  epoch  remaining  is  limited.  The  most  extended, 
if  not  in  all  respects  the  most  noble,  impulse  in  the  Gothic  art 
of  figure  sculpture  was  yet  to  come.  The  foregoing  examples 
will  serve  to  show  the  state  of  development  that  had  been 
reached  in  the  Ile-de-France  before  the  great  facades  of  Paris, 
Amiens,  and  Reims  had  come  into  existence.  Of  the  cathedrals 
that  were  begun  in  the  twelfth  century  few  were  completed  so 
far  as  to  include  their  west  ends  before  the  thirteenth  century. 
The  vast  wealth  of  statuary  which  adorns  these  sublime  monu- 
ments is,  for  the  most  part,  subsequent  in  date  to  the  year  1200. 

Gothic  sculpture  of  the  early  thirteenth  century  develops 
into  forms  that  are  less  cramped  by  imperfect  technique,  and 
that  bear  fewer  traces  of  primitive  conventions,  than  the  works 
of  the  preceding  century.  Taught  by  the  example  of  the 
earlier    mediaeval    schools,  imbued   with   the   spirit   of   ancient 


374 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


design  traditionally  transmitted  through  Byzantine  art,  but  not 
enslaved  by  its  technical  mannerisms,  the  artists  of  the  Royal 
Domain  began  with  rapidly  increasing  proficiency  to  give  freer 
play  to  their  own  imagination  and  observation,  and  to  produce 
works  of  art  which  in  all  but  sentiment  —  in  which  the  best 
works  of  the  twelfth  century  cannot  be  surpassed  —  remain 
unrivalled  among  the  productions  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

The  portion  of  the  Gothic  building  where  figure  sculpture 
chiefly  occurs  is  the  western  fagade,  though  other  parts  of  the 
exterior  are  also  more  or  less  richly  adorned  with  statues.  In  a 
cathedral  of  the  first  order,  such  as  Paris,  Chartres,  Amiens, 
or  Reims,  many  hundreds  of  sculptured  figures  are  displayed. 
Gathered  principally  within  the  deeply  splayed  portals,  there  is 


Fig.  220.  —  Paris. 


often  in  addition,  as  at  Paris,  Amiens,  and  Reims,  a  row  of 
colossal  statues  just  above  them  extending  across  the  entire 
front.  And  besides  these  are  many  figures,  on  large  and  on 
small  scale,  under  the  canopies  of  the  buttresses,  while  gar- 
goyles project  from  the  cornices,  and  grotesque  creatures  are 
ranged  upon  the  parapet. 

Of  all  the  great  cathedral  facades  of  this  epoch  the  most  impor- 
tant in  point  of  sculpture  is  that  of  Paris.  Begun  in  the  very  first 
years  of  the  thirteenth  century,  it  exhibits  the  finest  work  of  the 
French  carvers  during  the  entire  first  quarter  of  that  century. 
No  other  church,  not  even  Amiens,  affords  so  fine  a  display  of 
the  Gothic  genius  in  this  branch  of  design.  As  almost  every- 
where else  in  France,  a  great  part  of  the  sculptured  enrichment 


xiir  GOTHIC  SCULPTURE  IN  FRANCE  375 

of  Paris  has  perished  by  wilful  human  violence.  In  view, 
however,  of  the  vicissitudes  of  popular  sentiment  and  passion 
through  which  it  has  passed,  it  is  surprising  that  so  much  of 
the  original  ornamentation  of  this  noble  monument  has  been 
preserved.  Of  its  three  great  western  portals  nearly  all  the 
sculptures  of  the  tympanums  and  archivolts  remain  substan- 
tially unimpaired.  Those  of  the  north  door  are  the  earliest,  it 
having  been  at  this  point  that  the  erection  of  the  facade  was 
begun  in  the  first  decade  of  the  thirteenth  century.^  The 
sculpture  of  the  tympanum  of  this  doorway  is  thus  in  date 
enough  later  than  that  of  the  lintel  of  Senlis  to  show  a  con- 
siderable advance  in  point  of  freedom  and  skill  in  the  rendering 
of  forms.  This  tympanum  is  divided  horizontally  into  two 
compartments.  In  the  lower  compartment  (Fig.  220)  is  repre- 
sented the  entombment  of  the  Virgin,  and  in  the  upper  com- 
partment her  coronation."  Such  skilful  treatment  of  form,  and 
such  beauty  of  modelling,  had  not  before  been  seen  since  the 
ancient  classic  times.  And  here  again  the  likeness  to  certain 
qualities  of  Greek  art  is  both  remarkable  and  instructive.  It 
is  a  fundamental  likeness,  showing  itself  in  those  finer  pecu- 
liarities of  composition  and  execution  which  escape  the  merely 
imitative  workman  but  are  natural  to  the  workman  who  has 
been  bred  on  traditional  principles.  It  is  due,  probably,  to  the 
natural  propensities  of  men  constituted  like  the  mediaeval  artists 
of  France,  and  disciplined  as  they  had  been  by  the  Greek  artistic 
traditions  as  transmitted  through  the  Byzantine  channel.  The 
native  qualities  of  the  race  made  them  quick  to  assimilate  what 
was  vital  in  these  traditions,  the  imagination  was  stimulated  by 
the  poetic  and  religious  ideals  of  the  age,  and  sustained  by 
popular  interest.  The  free  study  of  nature  by  such  men 
under  such  conditions  might  naturally  lead  to  results  having 
much  in  common  with  those  that  had  before  been  reached 
by  the  Greeks.  Not,  however,  that  the  mediaeval  outlook 
upon  the  world  of  nature,  or  the  mediaeval  apprehensions  of 
beauty,  were  the  same  as  those  of  the  ancient  Greeks.  They 
were,  of  course,  in  many  respects  so  widely  different  that 
there  was  little  in  common  between  them.  The  Greek,  in 
his  mature  development,  demanded  physical  beauty.     In  draw- 

^  Cf.  \'iollet-le-Duc,  s.v.  Purle,  p.  421 ;    and  Guilhermy,  Iliitcraire  Arclii-ologique 
de  Paris,  p.  24. 


376  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

ing  from  nature  his  materials,  wherewith  to  give  worthy  embodi- 
ment to  his  conceptions  of  gods  and  heroes,  he  rejected,  for 
the  most  part,  all  that  was  not  outwardly  beautiful.  Selection 
with  him  was  an  inborn  principle  and  a  constant  habit.  The 
Gothic  artist,  on  the  contrary,  saw  that  charm  may  coexist  with 
bodily  imperfection ;  and  although  he  also  exercised  a  spirit  of 
choice,  this  choice  was  not  determined  by  exclusive  regard  for 
physical  qualities.  It  sought  after  an  expression  of  the  spirit 
which  may  lend  an  interest  to  the  sculptor's  work  superior  to 
that  of  mere  perfection  of  form.  But  while  thus  differing 
in  their  respective  aims  and  apprehensions  there  is  never- 
theless a  close  and  interesting  kinship  between  the  Greek 
sculptors  of  antiquity  and  the  Gothic  sculptors  of  the  Ile-de- 
France  in  the  thirteenth  century.  They  exhibit  a  similar 
understanding,  though  a  different  choice,  of  the  elements  of 
form ;  and  a  similar  sense  of  the  treatment  which  the  ends  of 
plastic  art  demand.  It  is  this  similarity  of  artistic  feeling  and 
executive  instinct,  finding  expression  under  changed  conditions 
in  new  forms,  which  gives  the  likeness  to  Greek  art  that  we 
recognize  in  this  sculpture  of  the  portal  of  the  Virgin,  and  in 
so  many  other  examples  of  Gothic  art.  It  is,  however,  only  in 
technical  qualities  that  this  tympanum  shows  a  marked  advance. 
The  sentiment  and  expression  of  the  lintel  of  Senlis  are  by  no 
means  equalled  by  this  work. 

Judging  from  what  remains  of  the  reliefs  of  the  tympanum 
of  the  central  portal,  the  total  design  must  have  been  even  finer 
in  spirit  than  that  of  the  portal  of  the  Virgin.  But  this  tym- 
panum has  suffered  greatly.  In  the  last  century  it  was  sub- 
jected to  the  most  outrageous  mutilation  at  the  hands  of  the 
architect  Soufflot,  who,  in  order  to  enlarge  the  space  for  the 
passage  of  processions  on  high  ceremonial  occasions,  removed 
the  dividing  pier  and  cut  a  large  piece  out  of  the  lower  part 
of  the  tympanum.^     The  subject  is  the  Last  Judgment,  and  it 

^  Cf.  De  Guilliermy  p.  26.  This  mutilation,  and  the  fact  that  a  part  of  the  sculp- 
ture of  the  tympanum  as  it  now  exists  is  a  restoration,  were  inadvertently  overlooked 
in  my  first  edition.  This  restoration,  like  many  others  that  have  been  lately  executed 
in  France,  is  a  marvel  of  skilful  workmanship.  The  tympanum  as  it  now  stands  has 
the  appearance  of  an  unaltered  original  work.  This  is  a  matter  for  regret  rather  than 
satisfaction  ;  for  while  it  may  appear  to  restore  the  original  effect,  it  misleads  the 
unsuspecting  observer.  The  monument  is  rendered  to  this  extent  a  corrupt  docu- 
ment.    Skilful  and  admirable  as  the  work  of  the  modern  imitator  may  be,  it  cannot 


XIII  GOTHIC  SCULPTURE  IN  FRANCE  377 

is  treated  with  an  impressiveness  hardly  equalled  elsewhere.  It 
would  be  difficult  to  find  another  tympanum  of  the  time  so  nobly 
embossed  with  expressive  sculpture. 

Passing  to  the  works  of  the  second  half  of  the  thirteenth 
century  we  have  an  elaborate  example,  dating  from  about  1257, 
in  the  door  of  the  south  transept  of  this  same  Cathedral  of 
Paris.  It  may  be  noticed  in  passing  that  constructive  propriety 
is  not  strictly  observed  in  this  doorway.  The  sculptured  archi- 
volts  are  not  sustained  by  true  shafts  with  capitals  and  bases 
as  in  the  earlier  Gothic  portals ;  but  in  place  of  them  slender 
rounds,  which  are  merely  mouldings,  rise  continuously  to  the 
crown  of  the  arch.  In  this,  and  in  some  other  respects,  this 
portal  belongs  to  a  class  of  constructions  which  at  this  epoch 
first  introduced  elements  of  decline  into  Gothic  architecture. 
The  statues  which  adorn  the  jambs  of  this  doorway  are  placed 
in  niches  between  these  continuous  mouldings,  and  thus  have 
a  degree  of  independent  character  which  is  in  contrast  to  the 
strictly  architectural  dependence  of  the  statues  of  the  best 
period  of  Gothic  art. 

The  subject  of  the  sculptures  of  the  tympanum  here  is  the. 
history  of  St.  Stephen.  They  display  much  beautiful  carving  — 
figures  of  lifelike  freedom  wrought  with  technical  skill  of  a 
high  order  and  with  elaborate  finish.  But  the  monumental 
grandeur  and  naive  sentiment  of  the  best  Gothic  period  have 
here  given  place  to  a  somewhat  over-naturalistic  treatment  and  a 
melodramatic  expression.  The  sculptor  has  apparently  become 
conscious  of  his  art  and  seems  to  take  pleasure  in  its  display. 

Returning  now  to  the  consideration  of  statues  ranged 
against  the  jambs,  or  wrought  upon  the  dividing  pillars  of  the 
doorways,^  one  of  the  finest,  dating  from  the  first  half  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  is  the  statue  of    the  Virgin    of    the    south 

be  in  all  respects  like  the  original  work  in  whose  place  it  stands.  Its  incorporation 
with  the  old  work  is  a  deplorable  and  inexcusable  mistake,  and  an  injustice  to 
students  of  medi?eval  art.  In  cases  where  the  original  sculpture  of  great  monuments 
has  been  injured,  the  best  that  their  custodians  can  do  is  to  protect  from  further  harm 
what  remains,  leaving  the  gaps  to  stand  as  such.  The  fagade  of  Paris  would  be  more 
impressive  with  the  scars  of  past  ages  all  visible  than  it  now  is  in  its  deceitful  com- 
pleteness. 

1  .After  the  eleventh  century  the  principal  portals  of  the  great  monastic  and 
cathedral  churches  were  commonly  divided  into  two  openings  by  trunnujux,  or  pillars 
of  stone,  affording  place  for  a  statue  on  its  front  face. 


378 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


door  of  the  west  fagade  of  Amiens.  As  I  have  already- 
said,  the  artists  of  the  early  thir- 
teenth century  were  able  to  give 
more  freedom  and  natural  modelling 
to  such  figures  than  had  been  the 
case  with  those  of  the  preceding 
century,  while  maintaining  that  mon- 
umental character  which  is  so  es- 
sential a  quality  of  architectural 
sculpture.  In  this  Virgin  of  Amiens 
the  archaisms  that  appear  in  the 
early  statues  of  Chartres  and  St. 
Denis  give  place  to  a  more  skilful 
and  natural  execution.  The  head 
of  this  figure  is  well  set,  the  features 
are  regular  and  finely  cut,  and  the 
wimple  falls  in  graceful  lines  upon 
the  shoulders.  The  pose  of  the 
body  is  unconstrained,  though  quiet, 
and  the  simple  draperies  are  cast 
into  easy  folds  of  truthful  form  as 
well  as  classic  elegance.  Few  exam- 
ples of  mature  mediaeval  art  exhibit 
more  calmness  or  more  sweetness  of 
expression. 

More  strikingly  graceful  and 
queenly  in  bearing  is  the  statue 
(Fig.  221)  of  the  Virgin  in  the  portal 
of  the  north  transept  of  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Paris.  In  the  Virgin  of 
Amiens  just  spoken  of,  as  in  the 
earlier  Gothic  statues  generally,  the 
weight  of  the  body  is  supported 
equally  on  both  legs.  This  keeps 
the  shoulders  level  and  produces  a 
somewhat  formal  cast  of  draperies, 
as  in  Figs.  218  and  219,  pp.  367,  368  ; 
but  in  this  figure  an  easier  posture 
is  assumed.  Resting  mainly  on  the  left  foot,  the  lower  part 
of  the  body  of  this  Virgin  of  Paris  is  thrown  slightly  to  the 


Fig.  221.  —  Paris. 


XIII  GOTHIC  SCULPTURE  IX  FRANCE  379 

left,  while  the  right  knee  is  naturally  a  little  bent,  the  right  arm 
and  shoulder  a  little  lowered,  and  the  head  inclined  a  little  to 
the  right.  A  rhythmical  flow  of  lines  is  thus  obtained,  which 
is  the  more  delightful  because  it  is  nowhere  too  pronounced. 
The  drapery  exhibits  an  effective  mingling  of  simple  nature  and 
subtle  art,  especially  where  a  portion  of  the  mantle  is  cast  over 
the  left  arm  and  falls  vertically  in  a  heavy  fold  to  the  foot  of 
the  figure.  A  line  of  twofold  value  is  thus  obtained  which 
echoes  the  upright  members  of  the  architecture  and  enhances 
by  contrast  the  beauty  of  the  curves.  This  pleasant  artifice  is 
indeed  as  old  as  the  art  of  sculpture,  having  been  employed, 
with  a  great  variety  of  adjustment,  in  innumerable  draped 
statues  by  the  sculptors  of  antiquity.  It  is  here  employed 
in  no  spirit  of  imitation,  but  with  a  genuine  sense  of  effective 
composition  and  of  truth  to  nature,  guided  by  tradition. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  in  the  best  Gothic  sculpture,  as  in 
the  best  sculpture  of  antiquity,  no  trivial  elaboration  of  textures 
occurs.  The  surfaces  of  these  statues  are  generally  rendered 
in  the  same  manner  throughout.  Flesh  and  draperies  are  alike 
smoothly  worked.  In  hair,  wings,  or  embossed  ornaments,  a 
somewhat  rougher  texture  may  be  given ;  but  not  with  any 
naturalistic  intention  or  result.  The  Gothic  carver,  like  the 
carver  of  ancient  Greece,  wisely  limited  his  art  to  the  monu- 
mental expression  of  form  alone. 

If  we  now  pause  to  consider  what  had  by  this  time  been 
accomplished,  and  reflect  that  in  Italy  Giotto  was  not  yet  born, 
that  the  sculptures  of  St.  Denis  and  of  Chartres  antedate  by 
nearly  a  century  the  art  of  Niccola  Pisano,  and  that  a  consider- 
able time  was  yet  to  elapse  before  Italy  should  produce  a  figure 
equal  in  beauty  and  expression  to  this  Virgin  of  the  transept  of 
Paris,  we  can  hardly  fail  to  be  impressed  by  the  worth  of  the 
Gothic  schools  of  France,  which  at  this  early  date  had  reached 
so  high  a  state  of  development. 

Gothic  sculpture  is  further  remarkable  as  the  first  art 
the  world  had  seen  in  which  expression,  rather  than  perfection 
of  bodily  form,  was  primarily  sought.  It  cannot,  indeed, 
be  said  that  the  sculpture  of  Greek  antiquity  was  wholly 
wanting  in  expression ;  but  it  is  generally  true  that  such  as  it 
had  was  subordinated  to  the  quality  of  corporeal  beauty.  By 
expression  I  here  mean  some  indication  in  face,  movement,  or 


38o  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

gesture  of  thought  or  emotion.  We  may  not  be  able  always  to 
read  with  certainty  the  intended  thoughts  or  feelings ;  but  we 
are,  in  the  best  Gothic  sculptures,  usually  impressed  with  a  sense 
that  the  minds  of  the  personages  represented  are  in  some  way 
exercised.  And  often  we  may  divine,  almost  with  certainty,  the 
nature  of  the  thought  or  sentiment  which  the  artist  endeavoured 
to  make  his  figure  express.  What  we  have  seen  in  the  relief  of 
the  lintel  of  Senlis  is  but  a  conspicuous  instance  of  that  which 
is  in  some  measure  apparent  in  most  of  the  best  sculpture 
wrought  by  the  hands  of  Gothic  artists.  And  this  development 
of  expression  as  a  chief  animating  motive  of  the  art  is  a 
natural  outcome  of  the  mediaeval,  as  opposed  to  the  ancient, 
genius ;  of  the  Christian,  as  opposed  to  the  pagan,  ideals.  In 
the  arts  of  the  primitive  Christian  times  this  quality  of  expression 
hardly  appeared ;  the  requisite  skill  to  produce  it  was  wanting. 
Gothic  sculpture  was  the  first  Christian  art  that  was  technically 
advanced  enough  to  become  a  medium  of  varied  expression. 

But  though  expression  was  a  leading  motive,  it  does  not 
follow  that  bodily  beauty  was  ignored  by  the  Gothic  artists. 
The  production  of  such  beauty  was  distinctly  one  of  their 
aims.  In  the  Gothic  ideal,  however,  physical  perfection  did 
not  count  for  everything;  many  imperfections  of  form  were, 
as  we  have  seen,  accepted,  yet  notwithstanding  such  imper- 
fections the  general  scheme  of  a  Gothic  design  in  sculpture, 
and  the  general  rendering  of  it,  rarely  failed  to  be  beautiful. 
The  idea  that  this  art  was  animated  by  an  ascetic  spirit  which 
was  incompatible  with  beauty  is  a  mistaken  one.  The  Christian 
doctrine  of  self-abnegation  did  not,  with  the  mediaeval  artists  of 
the  Ile-de-France,  at  all  preclude  the  joyful  contemplation  of  all 
that  was  regarded  as  becomingly  fair ;  and  although,  in  the 
representation  of  terrestrial  beings,  deformity  was  sometimes 
admitted,  the  illustration  of  the  mediaeval  conceptions  of  the 
supernatural  led  often  to  the  production  of  exquisite  types  of 
beauty.  But  these  ideal  types  were  very  different  from  those  of 
classic  art.  The  Christian  sentiment  naturally  rejected  every- 
thing that  savoured  of  bodily  charm  alone.  It  demanded  a 
fitting  modesty  and  sobriety  ;  and,  as  a  rule,  it  represented  the 
clothed  body  only. 

The  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century  marks  the  technical 
culmination  of  Gothic  sculpture.    The  carvers  of  this  period  had 


XIII  GOTHIC  SCULPTURE  IN  FRANCE  381 

mastered  all  of  their  material  processes,  and  had  brought  the 
plastic  rendering  of  form  in  the  draped  human  figure  to  a  degree 
of  monumental  perfection  that  had  hardly  ever  been  surpassed. 
During  the  second  half  of  the  same  century  some  magnificent 
works  in  statuary  were,  indeed,  wrought ;  but  none  of  them  ex- 
hibit qualities  superior  to  those  of  the  Virgin  of  the  north  tran- 
sept of  Paris.  In  these  later  works,  however,  it  is  interesting  to 
see  that  some  of  the  ancient  conventions,  especially  in  the  treat- 
ment of  hair,  still  survive,  while  there  is  a  great  advance  in  the 
natural  and  free  arrangement  of  locks.  Some  of  the  statues 
of  the  portals  of  Reims,  for  instance,  while  finely  suggestive  of 
nature,  have  a  rhythmical  sequence  of  lines  and  masses,  and 
an  appropriately  lithic  character,  which  are  reminiscent  of  the 
antique  and  yet  are  distinctly  mediaeval. 

Passing  from  the  carving  of  the  human  figure  to  that  of  other 
objects,  we  may  begin  with  some  consideration  of  the  grotesque 
in  Gothic  art.  The  representation  of  physical  beauty  being  with 
the  Gothic  carver  subordinated  to  the  purpose  of  enforcing  the 
idea  that  the  soul  is  superior  to  the  body,  and  of  illustrating  the 
doctrine  of  the  salvation  of  the  soul  by  goodness  of  life,  and  the 
loss  of  the  soul  by  evil  life,  it  was  necessary  that  beings  and 
objects  not  beautiful  should  enter  into  his  sculptured  ornamental 
schemes.  The  evils  that  beset  the  lives  and  tempt  the  souls  of 
men  had  to  be  in  some  way  set  forth  no  less  than  the  human 
virtues  and  the  heavenly  ideals.  The  unhappy  lot  of  the 
wicked  had  to  be  figured  as  well  as  the  felicities  of  the  good. 
Hence  figures  which  embody  the  mediaeval  notions  of  the 
monstrous  and  the  grotesque  are  conspicuous  elements  in 
Gothic  sculpture,  especially  after  the  beginning  of  the  thir- 
teenth century.  The  grotesque,  in  the  finest  Gothic  art,  while 
often  apparently  introduced  in  a  playful  spirit,  had  thus  pri- 
marily a  serious  purpose. 

The  Romanesque  imagery,  consisting  of  fantastic  creations 
of  animal  life  which  embodied  distorted  traditions  of  the  Roman 
mythology,  combined  with  forms  originating  in  the  rude  imagi- 
nation of  the  Northern  races,  was  largely  rejected  by  the  early 
Gothic  artists.  The  imaginary  creatures  which  they  sometimes 
introduced  were,  for  the  most  part,  confined  to  the  symbolic 
animals  of  the  Bible  —  such  as  those  seen  by  St.  John  in  the 
Apocalypse.      Characteristic   instances    of  these  occur  on  the 


38^ 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


tympanums  of  the  central  doorways  of  Chartres  and  Le  Mans.^ 
But  by  degrees  other  imaginary  creations  were  introduced,  until 
finally  the  grotesque  animal  life  of  the  Gothic  edifice  became 
even  more  extended  in  range  than  that  of  the  richest  Roman- 
esque monuments  had  been.  The  sparing  use  of  grotesque 
sculpture  extended,  indeed,  through  the  twelfth  century ;  and 
the  most  of  it  had  an  ornamental  character  like  that  which  was 
so  abundantly  introduced,  during  the  same  period,  in  the 
elaborately  wrought  borders  of  illuminated  books.     Figure  222, 


ii;fln!Bj**m«w^'SrS--i=^-as^ 


Fig.  222.  —  Senlis. 

from  a  plinth  of  the  central  portal  of  the  Cathedral  of  Senlis,  is 
a  typical  example  of  such  sculpture.  The  manner  in  which  this 
human-headed  and  winged  monster,  with  a  tail  branching  into 
leafage,  is  gathered  into  the  space  between  the  mouldings  is 
ingenious  and  effective.  On  such  fanciful  themes  an  endless 
variety  of  amusing  changes  were  rung,  and  in  them  the  fertility 
of  the  Gothic  imagination  is  astonishingly  manifest. 

During  the  thirteenth  century,  as  I  have  said,  the  produc- 
tion of  grotesque  creatures  became  vastly  more  extended,  and 
an  imaginary  fauna  was  created  which,  while  it  derived  much 

^  Cf.  Viollet-le-Duc,  s.v.  Anitnaux,  p.  20. 


xm  GOTHIC  SCULPTURE  IN  FRANCE  383 

from  the  older  conceptions,  embodied  so  much  that  was  new 
as  to  constitute  a  distinctly  Gothic  class.  This  development 
grew  primarily  out  of  the  old  popular  belief  in  the  symbolic 
character  of  animals  and  imaginary  creatures.^  As  symbols 
of  human  qualities,  both  good  and  evil,  these  animals,  real 
and  imaginary,  were  now  wrought,  for  encouragement  and  for 
warning,  upon  the  stones  of  the  sacred  edifice.  A  further 
purpose  of  this  fauna,  as  of  the  sculpture  of  the  human  figure 
and  the  flora  with  which  it  was  associated,  apparently  was  that 
the  Gothic  monument  might  present  a  compendious  illustration 
of  the  known  world  of  creation,  imagination,  and  faith. 

A  remarkable  quality  of  the  grotesque  creations  of  Gothic 
art  is  the  close  and  accurate  observation  of  nature  which  they, 
no  less  than  the  images  of  real  things,  display.  However  fabu- 
lous the  imagined  creature  may  be,  the  materials  out  of  which 
he  is  made  are  derived  from  nature,  and  manifest  a  keen  appre- 
ciation of  animal  structure.  Vertebra  or  claw,  wing  or  beak, 
eye  or  nostril,  throat  or  paw,  —  every  anatomical  member 
displays  an  intimate  familiarity  with  real  organic  form  and 
function,  and  an  imaginative  sense  of  its  possible  combina- 
tions in  creative  design. ^  Take,  for  instance,  one  of  the  gro- 
tesque creatures  (Fig.  223)  which  play  among  the  leafage  of  the 
portal  of  the  Virgin  in  the  Cathedral  of  Paris,  or  a  gargoyle 
of  the  cornice,  or  one  of  the  strange  beasts,  or  terrible  demons 
of  the  parapet.  Each  of  them  seems  animated  with  a  living 
spirit,  and  has  an  almost  startling  appearance  of  reality.  And 
besides  this  lifelikeness  and  functional  truth,  a  highly  orna- 
mental play  of  lines,  and  a  subtle  elaboration  of  finely  modelled 
surfaces,  are  shown  in  these  grotesque  forms.  In  the  early 
and  early  mature  periods  they  exhibit  a  noticeable  restraint  of 
posture  and  movement ;  extravagantly  contorted  forms  and 
violent  movements  occur,  for  the  most  part,  only  in  the  decline 
of  Gothic,  when  jaded  sensibilities  had  ceased  to  appreciate  the 
value  of  moderation  in  design. 

With  the  figure  sculpture  is  associated,  as  we  have  seen 
(pp.  23-24),  a  vast  profusion  of  other  carved  ornament,  mostly 
composed  of  conventionalized  leafage,  which,  wrought  upon  the 
leading  structural  members  of  the  building,  softens  and  enriches 

'  Cf.  Cahier  and  Martin,  Melanges  d' Archi'ologie.     Paris.    Tome  I,  p.  106,  et  seq. 
-  Cf.  Ruskin,  Modern  Painiers,  vol.  iii.  p.  97  ei  seq. 


384 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


its  rigid  lines,  hard  angles,  and  broad  surfaces  with  a  beauty 
akin  to  that  which  in  nature  clothes  the  hardness  of  the  frame- 
work of  the  earth. 

The  carved  foliate  ornament   of  the  Romanesque  builders 


Fig.  223.  —  Paris. 


had  been  mainly  derived  from  the  ancient  conventional  designs 
of  Roman  and  Byzantine  art.  These  ancient  motives  had  been 
worked  over  and  variously  modified,  —  in  many  cases  rudely, 
in  others  with  much  ingenuity  and  skill,  and  often  with  lively 
fancy,  —  but  for  a  long  time  with  little  original  invention. 
Fresh  motives,  however,  now  began  to  appear,  and  the  inspi- 


XIII 


GOTHIC  SCULPTURE  IN  FRANCE 


385 


ration  of  nature  at  length  transformed  the  traditional  elements 
into  those  living  and  beautiful  forms  of  endless  variety  which 
are  peculiar  to  Gothic  art. 

The  ornamental  carvers  of  Burgundy  appear  to  have  been 
the  first  to  break  away  from  the  older  types  of  conventional 
leafage.  The  capitals  of  the  porch  of  Vezelay,  begun  in 
1 132,  and  those  of  the  nave  of  the  nearly  contemporaneous 
Cathedral  of  Autun,  exhibit,  in  the  acanthus-like  foliage  with 
which  they  are  adorned,  the 
fresh  inspiration  of  nature, 
while  at  the  same  time  they 
retain  a  large  measure  of  the 
older  conventional  character. 
Figure  224  exhibits  a  frag- 
ment of  this  leafage  from  a 
capital  of  the  nave  of  Autun. 
The  springy  lines  and  ener- 
getic forms  of  this  fragment 
are  in  noticeable  contrast  to 
the  more  conventional  Roman- 
esque foliate  types.^  But  it 
was  reserved  for  the  artists  of 
the  Ile-de-France  in  the  twelfth 
century  to  completely  eman- 
cipate foliate  sculpture  from 
the  Romanesque  conventions, 
and  to  create  wholly  new  types 
of  the  highest  beauty. 

In  the  capitals  and  other 
carved  members  of  the  early 
transitional  buildings  of  France  two  leading  types  of  Roman- 
esque ornament  survive,  —  one  consisting  of  interlacing  patterns, 
sometimes  mingled  with  leafage  and  animal  forms  (Fig.  225), 
and  the  other  a  modified  survival  of  the  Corinthian  leafage  of 
antiquity  (Fig.  226).  To  these  maybe  added  a  third  type,  of 
less  frequent  occurrence  in  early  Gothic  art,  consisting  of 
human  figures  and  grotesque  animals  almost  exclusively.  The 
interlacing  patterns,   being  incapable   of  further    development 


Fig.  224.  —  Vezelay. 


1  Cf.  VioIlet-le-Duc,  s.v.  Sculpture,  pp.  184,  185, 


386 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


and  unsuited  to  Gothic  taste,  soon  fell  into  disuse.  The  orna- 
ment consisting  of  figures  and  animals  was  also  soon  abandoned; 
but  the  Corinthianesque  leafage  naturally  gave  rise  to  those 
endless  modifications  which  the  suggestions  caught  from  other 
forms  of  natural  leafage  soon  prompted  the  fertile  French 
carvers  to  effect. 

Among  the  earliest  extant  instances  of  Gothic  foliate  orna- 
ment which  show  the  fresh  influence  of  nature  are  those  which 
adorn  the  capitals  of  the  choirs  of  St.  Germer-de-Fly,  and  the 
cathedrals  of  Noyon,  Senlis,  and  Paris.  The  derivation  of 
these  capitals  from  the  classic  Corinthian  type  is  clearly  appar- 
ent, though  their  forms  and  proportions  vary  greatly,  and  all 


Fig.  22^. —  Senlis. 


Fic;.  226.  —  Senlis, 


differ  widely  in  appearance  from  the  classic  models.  The 
influence  of  nature  in  the  leafage  of  these  capitals  may  not,  at 
first  sight,  appear  to  be  clearly  marked.  The  broad  leaf  forms 
of  the  capitals  of  the  great  columns  of  the  sanctuary  of  Noyon 
(Fig.  148,  p.  310),  for  instance,  show  no  very  close  resemblance 
to  nature.  They  are,  in  fact,  little  more  than  refinements  of 
traditional  Romanesque  types  like  that  shown  in  Fig.  227,  —  a 
capital  from  the  Abbaye-aux-Dames  of  Caen,  which  is  merely 
a  rude  and  simplified  version  of  the  classic  Corinthian.  But 
the  refinements  of  form  which  mark  this  conventional  leafage 
of  Noyon,  and  render  it  superior  to  the  Norman  work,  are 
plainly  caught  from  nature.  The  vigorous  curves  and  fine  sur- 
face modellings  which  it  exhibits  are  without  parallel  in  the  older 


XllI 


GOTHIC  SCULPTURE  IN  FRANCE 


1^7 


carvings  wrought  by  workmen  who  derived  little  of  their  inspira- 
tion directly  from  living  things.  Almost  countless  varieties  of 
capitals  of  the  Corinthianesque  type  were  produced  in  the 
Ile-de-France  during  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  but 
in  the  leafage  with  which,  in  the  early  Gothic  period,  these 
capitals  and  other  members  were  adorned,  the  broad  forms  of 
water-plants  largely  prevail,  as  in  the  example  from  Noyon 
(Fig.  148),  in  the  capitals  of  the  triforium  of  Senlis  (Fig.  228), 
and  those  of  the  choir  of  Soissons  (Fig.  61,  p.  129).  Richer 
leaf  forms  of  monumental  elegance  are  also  abundant  at  the 


Fig.  227.  —  Abbaye-aux-Dames. 


same  time,  as  in  the  triforium  of  Paris  (Fig.  150,  p.  312),  and 
the  triforium  of  Laon  (Fig.  151,  p.  314). 

In  none  of  the  earliest  Gothic  foliate  ornament  does  the 
influence  of  nature  do  more  than  give  a  new  and  more  vital 
beauty  to  the  lines  and  modellings  of  the  elements  employed  ; 
but  soon  a  more  direct  study  of  nature  is  apparent,  and,  while 
the  art  still  remains  nobly  conventional,  a  fuller  suggestion  of 
organic  life,  and  even  something  of  specific  leaf  form,  occurs. 
Thus  in  Fig.  149,  p.  311,  the  crockets  are  formed  of  unfolding 
leaflets  which  are  unmistakably  drawn  from  the  fields.  This 
sculpture  dates  from  the  third  quarter  of  the  twelfth  century, 
and  the  same  motive   is  repeated  under  many  forms  through 


388 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


several  subsequent  decades.  The  triforium  of  Paris  alone  ex- 
hibits a  wide  variety  of  kindred  designs  of  the  utmost  beauty, 
all  of  which  show  that  unexampled  spirit  of  observation  and 
invention  which  gave  a  living  character  to  the  Gothic  edifice 
even  in  its  smallest  details. 

The  capitals  of  the  triforium  of  the  nave  of  Paris  may  be 
considered  as  marking  the  culmination  of  Gothic  art  in  foliate 
design.     A  general   unity  of    character  throughout  the  whole 


Fig.  228.  — Senlis. 


arcade  coexists  with  that  constant  variation  of  details  for  which 
Gothic  carving  is  unique.  I  have  already  (p.  315)  referred  to 
the  variety  in  the  profiling  of  the  abaci  of  these  capitals.  The 
variety  in  their  foliate  ornamentation  is  still  greater.  The 
crockets  under  the  angles  of  the  abaci,  of  which  five  examples 
are  given  in  Fig.  229,  are  of  exquisite  beauty  and  of  highly 
architectural  character.  The  inspiration  of  nature  has  com- 
pletely transformed  the  traditional  motives ;  but,  while  the 
ancient  form  of  the  volute  is  discarded,  a  reminiscence  of  it  is 


XIII 


GOTHIC  SCULPTURE  IN  FRANCE 


389 


retained.  No  merely  fanciful  recasting  of  old  elements  could 
lead  to  the  production  of  forms  like  these.  The  growing  leaves 
of  the  forest  and  the  field  could  alone  supply  the  requisite  models. 
But  it  required  genius  of  a  high  order  to  lay  hold  of  the  natural 
elements  without,  at  the  same  time,  becoming  entangled  in  a  myr- 
iad of  qualities  and  details  that  were  unsuitable  to  the  purposes 
of  architectural  ornament.  To  simplify  nature  and  yet  to  pre- 
serve what  is  most  expressive,  to  bring  out  in  sculpture  the  full 
value  of  what  nature  suggests,  and  also  to  secure  a  lithic  and  mon- 
umental character,  requires  the  most  perfectly  trained  artistic 
powers.     And  such  powers,  in  respect  to  foliate  ornament,  w^ere 


Fig.  229. 


never  so  admirably  developed,  before  or  since,  as  they  were  by 
the  French  sculptors  of  the  twelfth  century.  The  mind  of  the 
carver  of  this  time  was  so  imbued  with  monumental  instincts 
that  he  felt  no  temptation  to  imitate  with  realistic  intention  the 
finer  inhiuticB  of  leaf  or  stem.  These  he  well  understood  were 
incompatible  with  the  purposes  of  his  art.  But  to  catch  a  new 
grace  from  expanding  bud,  or  broad  leaf  outline,  his  eye  was 
ever  alert.  It  is  interesting  to  notice  that  the  plant  forms  first 
employed  by  the  Gothic  artists  for  ornamental  motives  were 
those  of  springtime,  —  the  opening  buds  and  newly  formed 
leaves  of  familiar  plants  :  fern,  arum,  hepatica,  plantain,  and 
many  others.  It  was  both  natural  and  appropriate  that  this 
spring   herbage,    more    than    any  other,   should    stimulate  the 


390  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

fancy  of  the, men  in  whose  hands  the  Gothic  style  itself  was 
taking  form ;  for  in  the  leafage  of  spring  there  is  an  expression 
of  living  energy  which  accords,  as  nothing  else  does,  with  the 
vital  organic  spirit  of  this  new  architecture. 

Gothic  sculpture,  even  of  this  purely  ornamental  kind, 
always  manifests  a  feeling  of  pleasure  in  natural  beauty ;  and 
it  is  the  first  sculpture  in  the  history  of  the  arts  which,  in  foli- 
ate ornament,  exhibits  this  feeling  in  its  fulness.  The  ancient 
regard  for  the  beauty  of  vegetation,  as  far  as  the  witness  of  art 
attests,  was  far  more  limited  and  subordinated  to  interest  in  the 
human  form.  Special  attention  to  the  beauties  of  leafage,  or 
much  expression  of  keen  enjoyment  of  its  organic  life,  will,  as  a 
rule,  be  sought  for  in  vain  in  the  arts  of  antiquity.  Antique 
foliate  ornamentation  is  usually  in  comparison  cold  and  formal 
in  its  studied  curves  and  surfaces ;  but  in  Gothic  foliage  a  keen 
delight  in  every  beauty  of  living  growth  is  constantly  manifest. 

To  this  subtle  feeling  for  nature  and  wise  acceptance  of  the 
limitations  of  art,  the  French  foliate  carver  joined  a  finished 
delicacy  of  execution  equal  to  that  displayed  in  the  statuary. 
No  rough  tooling  is  visible  in  the  French  art  of  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury. The  surfaces  are  often  finished  so  that  hardly  any  trace 
of  the  chisel  can  be  detected.  The  ornamental  carving  of  the 
Cathedral  of  Paris  is  worked  with  a  delicacy  that  is  unsurpassed 
by  that  of  the  frieze  of  the  Parthenon  or  the  shrine  of  Orcagna. 

The  finest  characteristics  of  this  art  are  exhibited  in  the  capi- 
tal (Fig.  150,  p.  312),  from  the  triforium  of  Paris.  The  Gothic 
carver's  enjoyment  of  nature,  his  powers  of  abstraction  and 
adaptation,  his  genius  in  design,  and  his  skill  in  execution  are 
all  fully  manifest  here.  The  Corinthianesque  motive  is  appar- 
ent throughout  the  ornamentation  of  this  capital,  though  the 
elements,  like  the  form  of  the  entire  member,  are  fundamentally 
changed.  This  ornamentation  consists  of  four  great  compound 
leaves  rising  against  the  bell,  one  under  each  angle  of  the 
abacus,  with  four  lesser  leaves  in  the  intervals,  one  under  each 
side  of  the  abacus.  The  grooved  midribs  of  the  greater  leaves 
(which  terminate  in  crockets)  take  vigorous  springing  curves 
which  rise  from  the  neck  moulding  and  have  an  expression  of 
inherent  energy  as  if  supporting  the  corners  of  the  abacus. 
The  forms  of  the  leaves  are  simple,  each  consisting  of  a  central 
member  with  a  five-lobed  leaflet  on  either  side  of  it.     In  outline 


XIII  GOTHIC  SCULPTURE  IN  FRANCE  391 

they  are  full  of  grace  and  spirit,  without  any  complete  imitation 
of  real  leaf  forms.  In  respect  to  coordination  of  elements,  the 
forms  are  massed  with  exquisite  art  —  the  deep  depressions  and 
sharp  incisions  producing  effective  contrasts  to  the  broadly 
lighted  parts.  And  while  symmetrically  arranged  they  have  no 
rigid  or  mechanical  formality  of  arrangement.  In  Gothic  art, 
as  in  nature  itself,  symmetry  is  never  absolute  as  in  a  geometric 
figure.  The  balanced  parts  of  every  symmetrical  ornamental 
scheme  always  exhibit  vital  irregularities.  This  is  true  also, 
of  course,  of  ancient  and  early  mediaeval  art;  but  it  is  more 
emphatically  true  of  Gothic.  No  deep  undercutting  or  any 
excessive  projections  occur.  The  form  of  the  bell  is  strictly 
preserved,  and  no  unmodelled  masses  or  unfinished  forms  any- 
where appear.  The  finish  is  of  extreme  refinement  —  every 
ridge  is  smoothly  rounded,  and  every  depression  is  carefully 
hollowed. 

But  this  superbly  monumental  type  of  carving  did  not  con- 
tinue to  be  produced  long  after  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth 
century.  A  decline  in  true  artistic  feeling  was  setting  in,  and 
with  this  decline  the  interest  in  nature  began  by  degrees  to  allure 
the  sculptor  away  from  the  severely  conventional  treatment,  and 
to  lead  him  into  a  path  of  naturalism  w^hich  was  incompatible 
with  the  best  architectural  effect.  As  we  approach  the  west 
end  of  the  nave  of  Paris,  a  marked  increase  of  direct  likeness 
to  nature  in  the  foliate  ornamentation  is  noticeable,  until  archi- 
tectural fitness  is  almost  lost  in  the  capitals  of  the  chapel  of  the 
catechists  in  the  south  tower.  Here,  in  the  southeast  angle, 
the  vaulting  shaft  has  a  capital  (Fig.  230)  in  which  the  orna- 
mental motive  is  wrought  out  with  an  approximation  to  literal 
exactness.  It  is  hard  to  qualify  our  admiration  for  so  beautiful 
a  work  ;  but  it  must  be  felt  that  this  leafage  is  not,  so  much  as 
that  of  the  former  example,  an  integral  part  of  the  capital.  It 
has  too  much  the  appearance  of  real  leaves  laid  up  against  the 
bell.  The  undercutting  is  so  deep  that  a  look  of  detachment 
is  in  some  places  suggested  which  impairs  its  architectural 
expression.  The  plant  form  from  which  this  ornament  is 
derived  is  apparently  the  water-cress,  and  the  carver  has  repro- 
duced with  much  fidelity,  though  on  a  greatly  enlarged  scale, 
the  main  characteristics  of  the  natural  growth.  But  apart  from 
the  defects  which  here  result  from  a  partial  forgetfulness  of 


392 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP, 


monumental  exigencies  in  enthusiasm  for  natural  beauty,  this 
sculpture  has  those  merits  which  are  peculiar  to  the  works  of 
the  best  Gothic  carvers. 

Among  capitals  which,  though  less  finely  wrought,  show 
great  beauty  and  variety  of  naturalistic  design,  are  those  of  the 
Cathedral  of  Laon,  of  which  Fig.  151,  p.  314,  from  the  triforium 
of  the  south  transept,  is  one  of  the  most  characteristic.     The 


Fig.  230.  —  Paris. 


variety  of  beautiful  ornamental  foliate  motives  to  be  seen  in  this 
triforium  almost  exceeds  that  to  be  found  elsewhere,  except  in 
the  Cathedral  of  Paris  and  the  Church  of  St.  Leu  d'Esserent. 
They  invariably  show  a  keen  enjoyment  of  nature  and  wonder- 
ful skill  in  the  architectural  adaptation  of  natural  leaf  types. 
The  types  of  Laon  are  quite  distinct  from  those  of  Paris ; 
but  they  are  hardly  inferior  to  the  best  of  those  which  that 
cathedral  presents. 

Leaving  now  the  capitals,  we  find  in  the  running  leaf  orna- 


GOTHIC  SCULPTURE  IN  FRANCE 


393 


ments  of  the  jambs  and  archivolts  of  the  portals  of  the  west 
fagade  of  Paris  examples  of  equally  beautiful  work.  An  illus- 
tration of  this  leafage  is  given  in  Fig.  223,  p.  384,  and  Fig.  231 
exhibits  another  bit  of  characteristic  beauty.  The  sense  of 
nature  conveyed,  notwithstanding  the  frankly  conventional 
treatment,  is  remarkable ;  it  is  a  masterly  rendering  of  the 
expressive  lines  and  forms  without  any  undue  naturalism. 


Fig.  231.  —  Paris. 


In  the  carving  of  the  triforium  string-course  (Fig.  232)  and 
that  of  the  cornice  of  the  exterior  of  the  nave  (Fig.  233)  of  the 
Cathedral  of  Amiens,  the  same  monumental  expression  of  foliate 
life  is  noticeable  in  leafage  of  a  different  kind.  The  springy 
contours  and  finished  modellings  of  these  examples  are  without 
parallel  in  the  ornamental  art  of  any  other  style  or  period. 
This  foliate  sculpture  of  Paris  and  Amiens  is  of  the  most  dis- 
tinctly Gothic  type.  It  is  the  farthest  removed  from  classic 
types,  the  most  suggestive  of  the  beauty  of  nature,  and  at  the 


394 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


same    time    it   is    all   based,  as  we    have   before   remarked,  on 
ancient  ornamental  schemes  of  composition.      No  monotonous 


*M8S^'^\^\\v«.m  :iJ^\\^^w^^^^Js^^^^^  iii^««v 


't^^rt^'^^T  ^^ 


E  H  M 


Fig.  232.  —  Amiens. 


reproduction    of   formal    patterns,  or   wearisome    repetition    of 
the  same  elements,  is  ever  found  in  Gothic  art.     A  perpetual 


W-'^^'^^^^^^^m^,^^ 


Fig.  233.  —  Amiens. 


variety  of  living  forms  is  invariably  maintained,  though  there 
is  a  regular  recurrence  of  sufficiently  similar  elemests.  Vitality 
and  freedom  are  governed  by  order  and   sequence  of  design 


GOTHIC  SCULPTURE  IN  FRANCE 


395 


down  to  the  smallest  details,  as  in  the  bunches  of  berries  which 
alternate  with  the  leaves  of  the  string-course  (Fig.  232);  and  in 
Fig.  231  it  will  be  seen  that  the  berries  of  the  bunch  in  the 
hand  of  the  figure  fall  into  a  regular  series  following  the  natu- 
ral spiral  arrangement  around  the  supporting  stem.  We  have 
in  this  another  illustration  of  the  kinship  to  Greek  art  which 
this  sculpture  shows  in  so  many  other  points. 

Such,  with  almost  infinite  variety,  is  French  Gothic  foliate 
sculpture.  Its  finest  types,  illustrated  by  the  capitals  of  Paris 
and  the  string-courses  of  Amiens,  hardly  appear  after  the 
second   quarter   of   the   thirteenth    century.       From    this   time 


/inj'.i^.^^jirt.i^.v--;^  •^■'■'i''■■^■;^r?»i>^^i?ei1?^pf'"'^"'^■'^ 


Fig.  234. —  Noyon. 


onward  the  direct  imitation  of  nature  became  too  much  the 
artist's  aim,  and  the  necessary  architectural  adaptation  was  more 
and  more  lost  sight  of.  A  few  further  illustrations  of  the 
change  from  the  one  condition  to  the  other  may  afford  by  con- 
trast a  better  understanding  of  the  qualities  which  characterize 
the  art  at  its  best.  Figure  234,  a  portion  of  a  string-course 
from  the  later  w^orks  at  Noyon,  shows,  in  a  marked  degree,  the 
tendency  to  over-naturalism  which  had  strongly  set  in  by  the 
middle  of  the  thirteenth  century.  There  is  much  beauty  in 
this  design,  and  its  execution  is  excellent;  but  it  has  lost 
the  nobly  conventional  character  that  marks  the  strings  of 
Amiens.  The  carver  no  longer  possesses  the  power  of  monu- 
mental abstraction.  He  reproduces  too  literally  and  completely 
the    finer    details    of   nature.      The    close    relation  w^hich    had 


396  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap 

formerly  been  maintained  between  structural  members  and 
their  carved  ornaments  was  soon  lost  under  this  over-natural- 
istic treatment.  In  the  late,  though  still  beautiful,  capital  (Fig. 
154,  p.  318)  from  the  arcade  of  one  of  the  choir  chapels  of 
Amiens,  for  instance,  the  leaf  ornament  which  adorns  the  lower 
part  of  the  bell  has  no  integral  connection  with  it.  It  is  like  a 
cluster  of  freshly  gathered  leaves  applied  to  its  surface.  The 
foot-stalk  has  even  the  natural  enlargement  at  the  base,  and  the 
peculiar  pointed  form  beneath,  which  are  found  in  nature  where 
a  leaf  is  torn  from  its  parent  stem.  The  bell  surface  of  this 
capital  is  independently  developed  from  about  the  middle  down- 
ward —  a  considerable  portion  of  it  being  unoccupied  by  the  or- 
nament. The  leafage  of  the  other  capitals  of  the  arcade  to  which 
this  example  belongs  is  of  great  variety  and  beauty,  and  notwith- 
standing similar  defects,  it  is  yet  far  more  meritorious  than  the 
leafage  of  the  still  later  Gothic,  in  which  a  trivial  naturalism 
occurs  unaccompanied  by  any  expression  of  the  vitality  and 
beauty  of  nature.  Conspicuous  examples  of  this  debased  style 
occur  in  the  later  capitals  of  Nevers ;  and  it  is  noteworthy  that 
whereas,  as  already  remarked,  the  early  Gothic  leafage  is  that  of 
springtime,  the  leafage  of  this  latest  Gothic  is  the  dried  leafage 
of  Autumn.  It  is  a  curious  fact,  also,  that  in  the  intervening 
style,  that  of  the  mature  Gothic  of  the  second  half  of  the  thir- 
teenth century,  the  ornament  employed  is  derived  from  the  fully 
grown  leafage  of  summer-time,  as  in  the  porches  of  Chartres  and 
the  later  portions  of  the  nave  of  Reims.  Of  this  summer  leafage 
the  delicate  running  ornaments  (Fig.  235)  in  the  archivolts  of  the 
Porte  Rouge  of  the  Cathedral  of  Paris  are  among  the  best 
examples.  The  wild  rose  is  here  reproduced  with  about  as 
much  literal  likeness  to  nature  as  would  be  possible  in  sculpture. 
It  is  not  without  ornamental  effect;  but  it  can  bear  no  com- 
parison for  effectiveness  and  monumental  fitness  with  the  con- 
ventional leafage  of  the  twelfth  century.  There  is  thus  a  vast 
difference  between  the  abstract  naturalism  which  gives  life  and 
beauty  to  the  early  Gothic  foliate  ornament,  and  the  imitative 
naturalism  which  belongs  to  the  decline  of  Gothic  art. 

The  nature  of  the  difference  is  not,  however,  enough  appre- 
ciated ;  a  clear  apprehension  of  the  meaning  of  convention  in 
art  appears  to  be  rare.  The  conventional  character  which 
distinguishes  the  work  of  every  great  artistic  epoch  does  not 


XIII 


GOTHIC  SCULPTURE  IN  FRANCE 


397 


result  from  any  arbitrary  purpose  :  it  has  its  foundation  in  the 
nature  of  things ;  and  the  productions  of  the  true  artist  become 
conventional  (as  remarked  in  Chapter  I.  p.  24)  through  an 
instinctive  and  unconscious  obedience  to  the  conditions  under 
which  he  works. 


In  Chapter  I.  the  quality  of  breadth  was  mentioned  as  among 
the  leading  characteristics  of  Gothic  sculpture.  This  ought  to 
be  emphasized ;  for  there  is  no  quality  for  which  this  sculpture 
is  more  remarkable.  Multitudinous  as  are  the  details  which 
enter  into  the  carved  ornamentation  of  any  great  cathedral  front, 
there  is  rarely  any  scattered  effect  in  the  parts  or  in  the  total 
scheme.      An  harmonious  relationship  of  mass  to  mass,   from 


398  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

largest  to  smallest,  is  maintained.  Such  breadth  is,  indeed,  a 
fundamental  quality  of  all  good  art;  but  its  manifestation  is 
perhaps  more  remarkable  in  Gothic  architecture  than  in  any- 
other  because  of  the  numerous  subdivisions  through  which  it 
has  to  be  preserved. 

The  attainment  of  this  breadth  by  the  Gothic  designers  seems 
the  more  remarkable  when  we  consider  the  individual  freedom  of 
the  vast  numbers  of  men  who  were  employed  upon  the  mediaeval 
buildings.  Of  this  freedom  the  work  everywhere  bears  evidence. 
The  range  of  invention  in  the  designing  of  figures  and  orna- 
ments is,  in  any  given  case,  far  too  wide  to  have  been  compassed 
by  a  single  mind.  There  was,  of  course,  a  master  builder,  or 
architect,  whose  general  scheme  was  followed ;  but  there  was 
no  individual  who,  like  a  modern  architect,  strictly  determined 
every  detail.  The  conditions  w^ere  all  different  from  those  of 
modern  times.  The  bands  of  workmen,  by  whom  these  great 
buildings  were  wrought,  and  who  w^ent  about  from  place  to  place 
wherever  important  architectural  works  were  to  be  undertaken, 
had  been  trained  in  the  great  monastic  schools.  In  these  schools 
they  had  learned  not  only  their  craft,  but  also  how  to  work 
together  for  common  ends.  There  existed  among  them  a  strong 
esprit  de  corps ;  and  each  individual  in  the  fraternity  felt  the 
ardour,  the  pleasure,  and  the  freedom  in  his  work  that  are  in- 
spired by  mutual  confidence  and  a  common  enthusiasm.  So  per- 
fect was  the  concord  of  feeling,  so  imbued  were  all  the  members 
with  the  general  principles  of  their  art,  that  individual  freedom 
had  no  tendency  to  produce  insubordination  in  design. 

The  art  schools  of  the  Middle  Ages  were  art  schools  in 
the  truest  sense.  They  were  schools  of  practice  where  the 
novice  learned  his  art  by  taking  part,  according  to  his  capacity, 
in  the  actual  construction  and  adornment  of  great  architectural 
monuments.  He  was,  of  course,  taught  such  general  principles 
as  had  been  acquired  by  tradition  or  derived  from  experience  ; 
but  fresh  experiment  was  ever  affording  fresh  instruction  to 
pupils  and  masters.  A  great  public  work  in  progress  created 
naturally  a  great  school  of  art ;  and  so  far  as  concerns  artistic 
production  no  other  kind  of  school  has  yet  been  of  much  avail. 

One  conspicuous  element  of  effect  in  the  sculpture  of  France 
in  the  Middle  Ages  is  now  almost  entirely  lost,  and  hence  the 
aspect   of  even  the  best-preserved  examples  is  very   different 


XIII  GOTHIC  SCULPTURE  IN  FRANCE  399 

from  that  which  they  must  originally  have  had.  The  colour  with 
which  these  sculptures  were  enlivened  has,  for  the  most  part, 
wholly  disappeared.  In  most  cases  only  a  few  faint  traces 
of  the  original  colouring  is  now,  in  sheltered  places,  to  be 
found.  But  there  are  enough  of  these  to  show  that  colour  was 
extensively  employed.  Such  traces  may  be  found  in  the  portals 
of  Senlis,  Paris,  and  many  other  churches.  In  a  few  instances 
something  like  the  whole  colour  scheme  has  been  preserved, 
though  in  a  much  defaced  condition.  In  the  Sainte  Chapelle  of 
St  -Germer-de-Fly,  for  instance,  several  statues,  dating  from  about 
the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  may  be  seen.  These  are 
exceptional  in  respect  to  the  amount  of  colouring  remaining  on 
them ;  and  they  are  very  beautiful.  They  show  plainly  what 
was  the  character  of  the  mediaeval  colour  applied  to  figure 
sculpture.  It  corresponds,  as  we  should  naturally  expect,  with 
the  colouring  of  contemporaneous  illuminated  MSS.  The  heads, 
hands,  and  feet  are  of  creamy  white,  the  cheeks  being  slightly 
reddened.  The  eyes  are  of  a  pale  blue  or  brown  colour  with 
the  pupil  black.  Hair  and  eyebrows  are  black,  brown,  or 
golden ;  and  the  draperies  are  mostly  red,  blue,  and  purple, 
with  white  and  black ;  while  ornaments,  as  jewels  and  embroid- 
eries, are  gilded.  Foliage  and  animals  were  coloured  in  an 
equally  conventional  way,  as  in  the  ornamental  borders  of  the 
MSS.,  with  no  attempt  at  realistic  effect.  It  was  not  until  a 
later  period,  that  sculpture  was  coloured  in  imitation  of  nature, 
as  in  the  sixteenth-century  choir  screen  of  the  Cathedral  of 
Amiens.  The  earlier  colouring  is  so  like  what  we  know  of  the 
colouring  of  Greek  sculpture  that  we  may  perhaps  reasonably 
believe  the  ancient  tradition  to  have  remained  unbroken  down 
to  the  thirteenth  century. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

SCULPTURE   OF  THE  TWELFTH   AND   THIRTEENTH   CENTURIES 
IN  ENGLAND   AND   OTHER   COUNTRIES 

In  the  architecture  of  the  twelfth  century  in  England  figure 
sculpture  is  rarely  met  with,  and  where  such  sculpture  does 
occur,  it  is  naturally  of  the  undeveloped  and  inexpressive, 
though  often  monumental,  sort  that  was  common  to  the  whole 
of  Europe  before  1 1 50.  The  French  custom  of  enriching  the 
portals  of  churches  with  statuary  and  reliefs  was  not  generally 
followed  in  England.  The  difference,  in  this  respect,  which  we 
find  between  the  western  portals  of  Vezelay  and  Autun  and  the 
nearly  contemporaneous  portals  of  Lincoln  Cathedral  is  a  dif- 
ference which  holds,  in  the  majority  of  cases,  between  conti- 
nental and  English  buildings  through  the  whole  period  of 
Gothic  art. 

Among  very  early  examples  of  figure  sculpture  in  England 
is  the  band  of  reliefs  which  extends  across  that  portion  of  the 
west  front  of  Lincoln  which  was  erected  about  1090.  This 
sculpture  (Fig.  236),  though  coarse  in  execution  and  wanting 
in  expression,  has,  nevertheless,  a  good  deal  of  merit  in  point 
of  architectural  effectiveness ;  and  the  same  may  be  said  of 
other  similar  works ;  as,  for  instance,  that  of  the  so-called 
Prior's  Gateway  at  Ely,  which,  though  later  and  richer,  is  not 
very  different  in  character.  Hardly  anything  of  more  impor- 
tance occurs  in  England  until  near  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  when  suddenly,  in  the  west  front  of  the  Cathedral  of 
Wells,  we  get  one  of  the  richest  assemblages  of  sculptures  ever 
gathered  into  an  architectural  monument.  These  sculptures 
differ  widely  from  any  that  we  have  thus  far  noticed.  They 
appear  to  have  been  wrought  by  an  insular,  and  even  a  local, 
school,  and  yet  a  school  that  must  have  had  some  connection 
with  the  schools  of  the  Continent.  Many  admirable  qualities 
appear  in  these  figures,  though  none  of  them  show  either  the 

4<X) 


CHAP.  XIV 


SCULPTURE  IN  OTHER  COUNTRIES 


401 


artistic  power,  or  the  beauties  of  form  and  execution,  which  are 
characteristic  of  the  Gothic  sculpture  of  France.  Unlike  that, 
the  sculpture  at  Wells  has  little  relation  to  the  building  itself. 
It  is  nowhere  an  integral  part  of  the  architectural  scheme. 
It  does  not  naturally  emboss  the  structural  forms.  The  jambs, 
archivolts,  and  set-offs  of  the  buttresses  are  everywhere  crowded 
with  niches,  canopies,  and  panellings  for  its  protection  and  dis- 
play. The  fagade  seems  to  exist  for  the  sake  of  the  sculpture, 
being,  as  we  have  seen  (p.  230),  little  more  than  a  vast  screen, 
with  no  logical  connection 
with  the  building  behind  it. 
As  if  to  enlarge  the  space 
for  the  sculpture  the  door- 
ways are  reduced  in  size  to 
even  less  than  the  usual  di- 
mensions of  doorwavs  in  Eng- 
land.  The  springing  of  the 
archivolts  of  the  central  por- 
tal is  below  the  level  of  the 
base  mouldings  of  the  wall, 
and  the  capitals  of  the  jambs 
are  within  reach  of  the  hand. 
Every  relation  of  ornament 
to  structure,  such  as  is  pe- 
culiar to  true  Gothic  archi- 
tecture, is  disregarded. 

Yet  the  sculpture  itself  is 
both   grand  and  impressive, 

and  much  of  it  has  considerable  beauty.  In  grace  and  senti- 
ment it  is  indeed  inferior  to  the  sculpture  of  the  Ile-de-France; 
and  it  also  exhibits  less  of  those  classic  elements  of  design 
which  we  have  noticed  in  the  works  of  the  best  Gothic  carvers. 
Its  sculptors  appear  to  have  been  more  independent  of  tradi- 
tion, and  their  work  is  correspondingly  wanting  in  some  of  those 
finer  characteristics  which  seem  to  depend  largely  upon  tradi- 
tional culture.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  a  sense  of  nature  seems 
to  have  had  a  large  place  in  the  mind  of  the  artists ;  while,  at 
the  same  time,  they  have  kept  well  within  the  bounds  of  monu- 
mental art  in  the  treatment  of  forms.  The  so-called  statue  of 
Christiana  (Fig.  237)  is  a  good  example  of  their  work.      It  is 


Fig.  236. —  Lincoln. 


402 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


i: 


grandly  architectural  in  its  severe  lines ;  but  the  draperies,  while 
showing  a  strong  sense  of  reality,  are  singularly  primitive   in 

character.  Little  of  the  rhythmical 
beauty  of  contemporaneous  French 
works,  like  the  statue  of  the  Virgin 
in  the  doorway  of  the  north  transept 
of  the  Cathedral  of  Paris  (Fig.  221, 
p.  378)  appears  here.  The  treatment 
of  the  folds  is  almost  as  archaic  as  that 
of  the  statues  of  St.  Denis  and  Chartres, 
which  are  a  century  earlier  in  date.  But 
in  comparison  with  such  works  as  these 
this  drapery  shows  the  inspiration  of 
reality  in  a  more  marked  degree,  though 
it  is  not  without  evidence  of  traditional 
influence,  which  in  this  figure  appears 
in  the  zigzag  edges  of  the  folds  beneath 
the  right  arm.  The  stiff  and  awkward 
forms  of  this  right  arm  and  hand  are 
singular  archaisms  for  work  of  so  ad- 
vanced a  period  as  the  middle  of  the 
thirteenth  century.  Yet  for  simplicity, 
veracity,  and  monumental  grandeur  this 
sculpture  must  be  ranked  high  among 
the  artistic  achievements  of  the  Middle 
Ages.  It  is  vigorous  and  noble  art, 
though  wanting  in  the  ideal  refinement 
and  beauty  of  the  contemporaneous 
French  work.^ 

Perhaps  the  sculpture  in  England 
next  in  importance  to  that  of  Wells  is 
found  in  the  reliefs  of  the  Presbytery 


\'K^:. 


"■^i,; 


•nC 


Fig.  237.  —  Wells. 


^  Mr.  Parker,  in  his  Introduciio7i  to  Gothic 
Architecture,  p.  log,  says:  "It  is  scarcely  possible 
to  overrate  the  value  and  importance  of  the  extraor- 
dinary series  of  sculptures  with  which  the  west 
front  of  Wells  Cathedral  is  enriched  ;  they  are 
superior  to  any  others  known  of  the  same  period  in  any  part  of  Europe."  Such 
exaggerated  overestimates  of  native  works  have  hitherto  done  much  to  prevent  the 
growth  in  England  of  an  enlightened  appreciation  of  the  best  artistic  products  of  the 
Middle  Ages. 


XIV     SCULPTURE  IN"  ENGLAND  AND  OTHER  COUNTRIES    403 

(named,  from  the  subject  of  these  works,  the  Angel  Choir)  of 
Lincoln,  which  date  from  the  second  half  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury. The  position  of  this  sculpture  on  the  spandrels  of  the  tri- 
forium  is  exceptional.  It  is  so  high  above  the  pavement  that  it 
can  be  seen  with  difficulty,  both  because  of  its  distance  from  the 
eye  and  because  the  width  of  the  aisle  is  not  sufficient  to  allow  it 
to  be  viewed  otherwise  than  very  obliquely.  The  light,  too,  is 
unfavourable,  since  it  falls  directly  from  the  opposite  clerestory. 
A  good  light  for  sculpture,  and  for  relief  sculpture  especially,  is 
that  which  falls  either  from  above,  casting  shadows  downward, 
or  from  one  side,  throwing  shadows  to  the  right  or  left.  This 
full  front  light  on  the  reliefs  of  the  Angel  Choir  reduces  the 
shadows  to  a  minimum,  and  destroys  the  effect  of  all  delicate 
modelling.  It  is  true  that  some  side  light  also  falls  in  from  the 
great  eastern  window;  but  the  modellings  that  might  thus  other- 
wise be  brought  out  by  this  light  are  largely  neutralized  by  the 
stronger  clerestory  lights.  This  sculpture  has  no  considerable 
merit,  though  it  has  been  extravagantly  praised. ^  It  consists  of 
a  series  of  figures  of  angels  in  high  relief,  with  wings  spread 
so  as  to  fill  the  spandrels,  playing  on  musical  instruments.  Some 
of  them  appear  to  be  symbolical,  but  their  meaning  is  uncertain. 
The  work  is  that  of  a  mature  school,  the  forms  have  some  grace, 
and  are  well  modelled ;  but  they  exhibit  no  conspicuous  qualities 
which  should  entitle  them  to  high  rank  as  works  of  art.  The 
south  door  of  this  presbytery,  which  has  more  of  the  character 
of  a  French  Gothic  doorway  than  is  common  in  England,  has  in 
its  tympanum  more  effective  sculpture,  though  it  is  too  much 
mutilated  to  admit  of  a  satisfactory  judgment  of  its  original 
merits.  Among  the  statues  placed  against  the  buttresses  of  the 
same  choir,  those  of  Edward  I  and  Eleanor  his  queen  are  notice- 
able for  graceful  composition  and  appropriate  monumental 
character.  But  these,  like  the  reliefs  of  the  interior  and  of  the 
tympanum  of  the  south  portal,  are  works  of  a  late  period,  when 
the  vigour  and  inspiration  of  mediaeval  art  were  largely  spent. 
I  am  not  aware  that  there  is  much  other  architectural  sculpture 

1  Mr.  Cockerel],  in  the  Appendix  to  his  Monograph  on  the  Sculpture  of  Wells, 
says :  "  The  sculpture  of  the  Angel  Choir  is  displayed  with  most  admired  learning 
and  taste,  and  may  not  only  challenge,  in  these  respects,  the  works  of  sculpture  or 
painting  of  any  country  in  the  thirteenth  or  succeeding  century,  but  will  possibly  be 
found  to  establish  a  priority  of  merit  in  the  English  school,  hitherto  little  suspected." 


404  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

of  importance  in  England  dating  from  the  thirteenth  century. 
It  is  possible  that  a  careful  search  might  discover  some  other 
works  of  equal,  or  even  superior,  merits  ;  the  number  must,  how- 
ever, be  relatively  small.  Of  the  statues  which  once  adorned 
the  west  front  of  Lichfield,  not  one  remains,  while  those  which 
occupy  the  niches  high  up  in  the  spandrels  and  gables  of  Peter- 
borough are  too  far  out  of  sight  to  be  judged  of. 

The  rare  employment  of  figure  sculpture  in  connection  with 
architecture,  and  the  character  of  such  sculpture  as  occurs,  show 
that  there  were  not  in  England,  in  the  Middle  Ages,  any  native 
schools  of  sculpture  comparable  to  those  which  arose  in  France 
in  connection  with  the  development  of  Gothic  architecture. 
The  Anglo-Norman  and  English  workmen,  as  we  have  already 
had  occasion  to  note,  were  not,  as  a  rule,  such  highly  gifted 
artists  as  were  the  great  monumental  sculptors  of  the  Ile-de- 
France. 

The  same  lack  of  vigorous  and  original  artistic  gifts  is  mani- 
fest in  the  foliate  carving  that  was  produced  in  England  during 
the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries.  While  examples  of  great 
beauty  sometimes  occur,  there  was  little  in  the  early  English 
pointed  architecture  of  that  growth  of  beautiful  conventional 
types  of  foliation  inspired  by  nature  which  so  strongly  marked 
the  early  Gothic  carving  of  France.  In  many  instances  the 
influence  of  nature  is,  indeed,  apparent ;  but  a  spontaneous 
and  general  movement  in  carving  characterized  by  a  consistent, 
varied,  and  skilful  adaptation  of  natural  organic  forms  leading 
to  a  new  and  living  style  of  ornament,  hardly  had  place  in 
England.  The  early  types  of  foliation  which  occur  are  con- 
ventionalized in  a  very  different  way  from  that  in  which  the 
contemporaneous  French  types  are  conventionalized.  Anglo- 
Norman  art  has  what  may  be  called  an  artificially  conventional 
character ;  it  manifests  a  lack  of  sensitiveness  to  those  finer 
characteristics  of  nature  which  may  be  effectively  expressed 
in  monumental  art.  Traditional  elements,  such  as  were 
common  to  the  whole  of  Europe  in  the  twelfth  century,  were 
retained  with  less  progressive  modification  than  they  received 
in  France.  A  carved  lintel,  built  into  the  wall  of  the  north 
transept  of  Southwell,  exhibits  an  imbricated  design  with  con- 
ventional suggestions  of  foliation  (Fig.  238)  which  will  be  recog- 
nized as  agreeing  in  character  with  the  leafage  most  frequently 


XIV     SCULPTURE  IN  ENGLAND  AND  OTHER  COUNTRIES 


405 


met  with  in  so-called  early  English  ornamentation.  Of  such 
traditional  elements  the  Anglo-Norman  designers  made  varied 
use ;  but  such  invention  as  they  exercised  never  quite  eliminated 
their  artificial  character.  The  so-called  stiff-leaved  foliage  of 
the  early  times  gives  little  evidence  of  a  refined  artistic  sense 
modifying  the  traditional  conventions. 

It  is  noticeable  that  the  earliest  foliate  sculpture  in  England 
is  the  best,  and  among  the  finest  examples  are  those  of  the 
capitals  of  Bishop  Hugh's  choir  and  transept  at  Lincoln.  Of 
these  none  are  better  than  those  of  the  triforium.  Yet  notwith- 
standing their  beauty,  the  trefoil  leafage  with  which  they  are 


Fig.  238. 

adorned  shows  some  of  those  peculiarities  which  I  have  char- 
acterized as  artificial.  In  the  capital,  Fig.  186,  it  will  be  noticed, 
for  instance,  that  the  mid-rib  is  a  flat-sided,  sharp-edged  member, 
and  that  the  edges  of  the  leaflets  are  also  sharp  and  hard.  These 
peculiarities  will  be  more  clearly  apparent  in  P'ig.  239,  where  C  is 
the  form  of  the  section  through  AB.  This  fillet-like  treatment  of 
leaf  ribs,  leaf  stalks,  and  leaf  edges  is  highly  unpleasing  to  the 
eye  of  a  beholder  who  is  familiar  with  the  delicate  rounding  of 
such  details  in  the  sculpture  of  France ;  yet,  in  contrast  with 
the  circular  abacus  and  the  rounded  profiles  of  England,  it 
sometimics  has  a  good  effect.  In  itself,  however,  it  is  an  ugly 
convention.  The  power  of  conventionalizing  natural  forms  with- 
out needlessly  violating  their  character,  the  Anglo-Norman  orna- 
mentist  did  not  possess  in  a  high  degree.     I  must  not,  however. 


4o6 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


seem  to  affirm  that  the  foliate  sculpture  of  the  early  pointed 
architecture  of  England  was  altogether  devoid  of  such  expres- 
sion of  the  beauty  of  nature  as  is  compatible  with  the  proper 
conventions  of  ornamental  art.  In  the  earliest  times  it  had  a 
great  deal  of  such  expression.  The  leafage  of  the  capital  we 
have  just  referred  to  is,  notwithstanding  the  artificial  peculiarities 
which  I  have  criticised,  very  exquisite  in  expression  of  the  vigour 
of  growth  in  living  vegetation,  and  of  the  graceful  leaf  outlines 

which  had  charmed  the  eye  of  the 
designer.  The  manner,  too,  in  which 
these  leaf  forms  follow  each  other 
around  the  bell,  bending  with  pliant 
grace  against  the  moulding  of  the 
abacus,  is  worthy  of  all  praise.  There 
are  numerous  other  beautiful  vari- 
eties of  conventional  leafage  to  be 
found  on  the  capitals  of  the  early 
choir  and  transept  of  Lincoln,  and 
in  many  of  them  an  equally  fine 
feeling  for  nature  is  manifest.  But 
this  feeling  does  not  long  survive 
in  the  art  schools  of  England,  and 
its  expression  is  never  wholly  unim- 
paired by  the  artificial  peculiarities 
just  noticed. 

After  the  first  quarter  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  the  artificial  char- 
acteristics become  more  conspicuous, 
and  the  expression  of  beauty  caught 
from  nature  is  less  apparent.  A 
good  illustration  of  this  later  phase 
of  design  is  afforded  by  the  leafage  of  the  capitals  of  the 
triforium  of  the  nave  of  the  same  building  (Fig.  240).  Here 
the  leafage  takes  the  form  of  crockets,  which,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  p.  338,  have  little  propriety  in  connection  with 
the  round  abacus.  Its  lines  are  still  in  a  measure  graceful 
and  suggestive  of  the  energy  of  vegetable  growth ;  but  the 
fillet-like  ribs  are  unpleasantly  multiplied,  and  the  leaf  stalks, 
instead  of  dying  away  in  the  mass  of  the  bell,  —  as  in  the 
early  capital  of  the  east  transept,  —  remain    salient   and   flat- 


XIV     SCULPTURE  IN  ENGLAND  AND  OTHER  COUNTRIES    407 

sided  down  to  the  neck  moulding.  Of  the  fine  surface  flexures 
shown  in  the  earlier  work  there  is  scarcely  any  trace  in  this 
artificial  foliage  of  the  nave. 

In  the  interior  of  Wells  Cathedral  foliate  sculpture  (Fig.  191, 
p.  344)  of  exceptional  character  and  peculiar  beauty  occurs.  Here 
we  have  apparently  a  mingling  of  Anglo-Norman  and  French 


Fig.  240.  —  Lincoln. 


influences.  The  excessive  projection  of  the  crockets  would  seem 
to  be  Anglo-Norman,  while  the  fine  surface  modelling  and  the 
delicate  rounding  of  the  leaf  stalks  and  leaf  ribs  is  French.  The 
fine  arrangement  of  the  masses  and  composition  of  the  curves, 
and  the  graceful,  flowing,  and  vital  lines,  give  these  capitals; 
remarkable  beauty,  though  the  extravagant  salience  of  their 
crockets  injures  their  architectural  expressiveness. 

The  carving  of  imaginary  and  grotesque  creatures,  though 


4o8  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

by  no  means  without  examples  in  England,  was,  like  other 
sculpture,  less  general  than  in  France.  Nevertheless,  instances 
occur  which  show  that  a  lively  fancy  and  vigorous  executive 
skill  were  often  exercised  in  their  production.  Among  the  best 
carvings  of  this  kind  were,  apparently,  those  of  buttresses  of 
Bishop  Hugh's  choir  of  Lincoln.  They  have,  however,  been 
sadly  worn  by  time  and  damaged  by  mutilation,  so  that  little 
now  remains  of  them. 

On  the  whole,  sculptured  enrichment  in  the  pointed  archi- 
tecture of  England  presents  no  parallel  whatever  to  that  of 
France.  To  the  builders  of  the  island  sculpture  was  not 
felt  to  be  an  indispensable  element  of  design.  Many  of  their 
most  important  monuments  are  almost  entirely  devoid  of  it. 
Beverley,  Salisbury,  and  Westminster  Abbey,  for  instance,  are 
singularly  bald  in  this  respect.  The  naked  moulded  capital, 
which  almost  exclusively  prevails  throughout  the  interiors  of 
these  and  many  other  great  churches,  gives  a  painfully  monoto- 
nous effect ;  and  the  few  isolated  statues  and  reliefs  which  occur 
on  the  outsides  have  little  influence  on  the  general  aspect,  or 
little  beauty  or  impressiveness  when  viewed  in  detail.  The  great 
Gothic  edifice  of  France,  with  its  marvellous  wealth  of  sculpture, 
never  had  any  counterpart  in  England. 

While  there  was  a  good  deal  of  activity  in  the  production  of 
sculpture  in  Germany  during  the  early  Middle  Ages,  it  appears 
to  have  been  confined  for  the  most  part  to  works  on  a  small  scale, 
such  as  reliefs  on  pulpits  and  other  ecclesiastical  furniture,  and 
to  the  enrichment  of  small  architectural  members.  Monumental 
figure  sculpture,  as  an  architectural  adjunct,  was  rare  in  the 
country  before  the  thirteenth  century,  and  was  not  extensively 
produced  at  any  time.  A  range  of  statues  seldom  flanks  the 
portals,  or  extends  across  the  facades,  of  German  churches. 
Such  figure  sculpture  as  sometimes  occurs  in  these  situations 
has  a  strong  resemblance  to  the  later  Gothic  sculpture  of 
France,  though  it  often,  at  the  same  time,  bears  a  distinctly 
German  stamp.  Among  the  most  exceptional,  and  among  the 
finest,  German  fronts  enriched  by  statuary  is  that  of  the  Lieb- 
frauenkirche  of  Trier.  The  portal  here,  though  round  arched, 
presents,  at  first  glance,  a  very  Gothic  aspect  with  its  archivolt 
of  six  orders  crowded  with  statuettes,  its  tympanum  carved  in 


XIV     SCULPTURE  IN  ENGLAND  AND  OTHER  COUNTRIES    409 

relief,  and  its  splayed  jambs  adorned  with  figures  in  the  full 
round.  This  sculpture  is  designed  and  executed  with  grace 
and  skill,  and  may  compare  favourably  with  contemporaneous 
carving  in  France,  such  as  that  of  the  portals  of  the  transepts 
of  Chartres.  It  lacks,  however,  the  supreme  expressional  and 
monumental  qualities  of  the  best  French  work,  and  its  relation- 
ship to  the  architecture  is  less  perfect.  The  statues  of  this 
portal  are  not  placed  each  against  a  shaft  in  the  jamb,  as  in 
a  French  portal  of  the  best  period,  but  are  set  in  niche-like 
compartments  which  gives  them  a  more  independent  character. 
The  severity  of  pose  and  of  treatment  which  marks  the  finest 
architectural  statuary  is  to  some  extent  wanting  here.  This 
independent  and  over-free  treatment  is  still  more  marked  in  the 
figures  of  the  upper  parts  of  this  facade,  which,  instead  of  being 
ranged  in  grand  subordination  to  the  architectural  lines,  are  put 
upon  pedestals  and  corbels  so  as  to  have  comparatively  little 
architectural  relationship  and  expression.  The  magnificent 
breadth  of  the  total  structural  and  ornamental  scheme  of  a 
great  French  Gothic  facade  could  never  be  attained  on  the 
principle  here  followed.  The  famous  statues  of  Strasburg 
exhibit  the  same  characteristics  in  an  even  more  marked  de- 
gree. They  were  evidently  inspired  by  the  sculptures  of  Reims; 
but  in  disregard  of  monumental  restraints  they  exceed  anything 
to  be  found  at  Reims.  These  figures  show  a  somewhat  mincing 
and  sentimental  character  and,  also,  a  degree  of  realism  in  the 
treatment  of  drapery  which  became  a  marked  quality  of  the 
later  German  sculpture  so  fully  exemplified  in  the  admirable, 
though  not  monumental,  works  of  Adam  Kraft  and  Peter 
Vischer. 

The  distinctly  German  types  of  foliate  sculpture  were,  like 
those  of  the  human  figure,  of  late  development.  They  are  char- 
acterized by  a  more  or  less  elaborately  crinkled  treatment  of 
leafage  ;  and  they  suggest,  as  do  the  later  types  of  leaf  ornament 
in  France,  the  dried  foliage  of  autumn  rather  than  the  broadly 
undulating  leaf  forms  of  summer-time.  Characteristic  examples 
occur  in  the  crockets  of  the  gables,  and  in  the  string-courses  of 
Cologne  cathedral,  as  well  as  in  the  capitals  of  the  same  build- 
ing. The  over-naturalism  which  belongs  to  the  late  foliate 
sculpture  of  France  reappears  here  with  increased  emphasis. 
In  capitals  all  expression  of  unity  with  the  bell,  or  of  sympathy 


410  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

with  its  functional  oflEice,  is  wanting,  as  in  Fig.  207,  p.  354.  The 
architectural  expression  and  appropriateness  of  the  early  leafage, 
which  was  largely  derived  from  the  French  models,  is  almost 
wholly  wanting. 

In  Italy  there  was  no  figure  sculpture  of  a  distinctly  native 
type  before  the  time  of  Niccola  Pisano  about  the  middle  of  the 
thirteenth  century ;  that  is  to  say,  not  until  considerably  after 
the  epoch  of  the  most  splendid  development  of  Gothic  sculpture 
in  France.  The  vigorous  carvings  of  the  Lombard  workmen 
never  advanced  beyond  the  rudeness  of  a  primitive  state,  and 
were  not  native  Italian  products.  The  Italo-Byzantine  carvings 
of  the  twelfth  century  give  little  promise  of  the  great  achieve- 
ments which  the  early  Renaissance  was  to  produce.  The  reliefs 
of  the  portals  of  the  Baptistery  of  Parma,  dating  from  the  close 
of  this  century,  and  kindred  works  which  are  numerous,  have, 
indeed,  much  ornamental  merit  based  on  the  common  traditions 
of  Byzantine  and  Roman  art ;  but  in  expression  or  in  form  they 
show  no  special  excellence.  When  the  art  of  sculpture  in  Italy 
began  to  assume  a  native  stamp,  and  to  become  important,  it 
was,  from  the  first,  different  in  character  from  the  transalpine 
Gothic  sculpture.  This  difference  is  largely  due  to  the  fact 
that  it  was  the  product  of  individual  sculptors  working  indepen- 
dently, rather  than  of  schools  or  guilds.  The  name  of  the  carver 
of  almost  every  important  statue  or  relief  in  Italy  is  known.  To 
the  great  companies  of  workmen  who  in  France  wrought  together 
for  a  common  end  — each  one  content  to  do  his  best  work  without 
thought  of  individual  fame  —  there  was,  at  this  time,  hardly  any 
parallel  in  Italy.  And  being  so  much  an  individual  product, 
the  work  of  the  Italian  sculptor  was  naturally  more  independent 
of  architectural  connection  than  that  of  the  Gothic  sculptor  in 
France.  That  intimate  union  of  sculpture  with  architecture,  which 
was  so  constant  in  Gothic  art,  was  never  attained  south  of  the 
Alps.  The  Italian  regarded  sculpture  as  something  to  be  admired 
iby  itself,  rather  than  as  an  architectural  auxiliary.  Thus  it  is 
tihat  in  Italy  statues,  instead  of  being  ranged  in  broad  lines 
subordinated  to  the  architectural  scheme,  and  connected  with 
structural  members,  are  commonly  placed  in  isolated  positions. 
They  are  set  in  niches,  or  under  ornamental  canopies  which 
have  not,  as  Gothic  canopies  have,  any  constructive  function 
or  expression,  as  in  the  facade  of  the  Spina  Chapel  at  Pisa. 


XIV    SCULPTURE  IN  ENGLAND  AND  OTHER  COUNTRIES    411 

Reliefs  are  not,  as  in  Gothic,  confined  to  the  tympanums  of 
portals,  but  are  carved  often  on  broad  wall  surfaces,  as  at 
Orvieto  and  in  the  Campanile  of  Florence.  Thus,  though 
effectively  placed  for  its  own  display,  sculpture  in  Italy  never 
became  associated  with  the  structural  system  in  such  a  way  as 
to  form  an  apparently  integral  part  of  it. 

In  Italian  sculpture  two  elements  curiously  mingle  :  the  one, 
that  of  expression,  in  which  there  is  a  resemblance  to  the  north- 
ern Gothic ;  and  the  other  pertaining  to  form  marked  by  char- 
acteristics derived  from  the  study  of  the  Roman  antique.  Of 
these  two  elements  sometimes  one  and  sometimes  the  other  pre- 
dominates, according  to  the  individual  genius  of  the  artist.  For 
instance,  in  the  famous  sculptures  of  the  pulpit  of  the  Baptis- 
tery of  Pisa,  by  Niccola  Pisano,  the  inspiration  of  Greco-Roman 
models  is  clearly  manifest  in  the  treatment  of  forms,  while  of 
expression  there  is  little.  In  the  art  of  Niccola  the  spirit  of  the 
classic  revival  is  already  manifest,  and  the  Gothic  spirit  is,  for 
the  most  part,  wanting.  The  figure  of  the  vigorous  young 
athlete,  carved  on  one  of  the  angles  of  this  pulpit,  exhibits,  in 
its  pose  and  anatomical  modelling,  a  purely  classic  influence 
which  is  far  removed  from  Gothic  feeling.  And  it  is  worthy  of 
notice  that  the  classic  character  of  this  work  differs  fundamen- 
tally from  the  classic  character  discernible  in  Gothic  sculpture. 
In  the  one  case  it  results  from  direct  imitation  of  ancient  models, 
in  the  other  it  seems  to  have  been,  as  already  pointed  out  (p.  375 ), 
a  traditional  survival.  The  principles  of  ancient  art  may  have 
been  less  familiar  through  tradition  to  Niccola  than  to  the  Gothic 
carvers ;  but  these  works  at  Pisa  were  wrought  not  so  much 
under  the  guidance  of  tradition,  as  in  conscious  emulation,  and 
with  direct  imitation  of  models  which  he  had  seen  and  admired. 
A  passion  for  excellence  of  form,  as  displayed  in  these  models, 
was  apparently  the  ruling  impulse  with  him.  In  the  reliefs  of 
the  panels  the  characteristics  of  that  Greco-Roman  art  which 
had  stirred  his  ambition  is  no  less  strongly  marked  than  in  the 
figure  just  mentioned.  In  the  grouping  and  execution  of  these 
reliefs  the  sculptor  has  given  us  little  of  his  own.  He  has  fol- 
lowed his  models  closely,  even  to  the  peculiar  conventions  of 
treatment  in  draperies  and  other  details.  The  redundance  and 
artificiality  of  Greco-Roman  design  are  reproduced  with  curious 
exactness.    It  is  not  at  all  strange  that  the  ancient  models  which 


412  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

he  had  at  hand  for  study  should  have  stimulated  his  genius.  In 
comparison  with  the  contemporary  works  of  art  in  Italy,  the 
carvings  of  the  ancient  sarcophagi  in  the  Pisan  Campo  Santo, 
and  other  kindred  works  in  Pisa,  exhibit  great  superiority  of  form. 
But  it  seems  remarkable  that  a  temperament  so  quick  to  appre- 
ciate excellence  of  form  should  have  shown  so  little  feeling  for 
that  beauty  of  expression  which  is  a  distinctive  quality  of 
mediaeval  art,  first  in  France  and  afterwards  in  Italy.  One 
looks  in  vain,  in  these  reliefs  by  Niccola  Pisano,  for  those  refine- 
ments of  expression  and  treatment  which  mark  the  works  of  his 
immediate  successors.  It  is  mainly  in  the  rendering  of  animal 
life  —  in  the  carving  of  the  beasts  which  support  the  pillars 
of  the  pulpit  —  that  a  living  and  original  faculty  is  largely 
manifest. 

P'ew  other  early  Italian  sculptors  were  so  strongly  influenced 
by  Roman  art.  The  reliefs  of  Giovanni  Pisano  at  Orvieto  are 
very  different  from  those  of  Niccola  at  Pisa.  In  expression  and 
in  types  of  form  they  are  more  like  Gothic  works.  A  strong 
influence  of  nature  and  a  fine  sense  of  beauty  are  apparent  in 
them ;  and  they  exhibit  little  evidence  of  direct  reference  to 
ancient  models.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  carvings  in  the 
panels  of  the  Campanile  in  Florence,  attributed  to  Giotto  and 
Andrea  Pisano.  These  reliefs  differ  a  good  deal  in  merit  one 
from  another ;  but  many  of  them  are  of  great  beauty.  The 
influence  of  French  art  was  by  this  time  considerable,  and  these 
reliefs  show  it  in  a  marked  degree;  yet  though  a  hundred  years 
later  in  date  than  the  reliefs  of  the  portal  of  the  Virgin  of  the 
Cathedral  of  Paris,  they  do  not  surpass,  and  few  of  them  equal, 
the  works  of  the  French  carver  of  that  portal. 

Of  foliate  sculpture,  Italy  produced  little  that  was  original 
and  peculiar  during  the  thirteenth  century.  The  Roman  and 
Byzantine  types  of  leafage  survived  except  where,  as  in  the 
capitals  of  the  pulpit  of  the  Baptistery  of  Pisa,  French  Gothic 
models  were  largely  followed.  In  the  fourteenth  century,  how- 
ever, distinctive  Italian  types  of  leafage  were  developed,  which 
are  often  remarkable  for  delicacy  and  beauty,  but  which  have 
as  little  Gothic  character  as  the  pointed  buildings  themselves 
with  which  they  are  associated.  The  leaf  sculpture  of  the  door 
jambs  of  the  Cathedral  of  Florence  affords  specimens  of  the 
best  work  of  this  kind.     The  first  noticeable  and  distinguishing 


XIV     SCULPTURE  IN  ENGLAND  AND  OTHER  COUNTRIES    413 

characteristic  of  it  is  that  it  is  distinctly  surface  sculpture,  a 
kind  of  rich  chasing  of  the  mouldings  and  narrow  panels  of  the 
doorway.  The  manner  in  which  the  undulating  surfaces  of 
these  mouldings  are  followed  by  the  exquisitely  outlined  and 
delicately  modelled  leafage  is  remarkable.  The  bossy  char- 
acter of  Gothic  ornamentation  is  wholly  absent.  The  next 
peculiarity  which  we  notice  is  that  of  extremely  naturalistic 
elaboration.  The  fig,  the  oak,  and  the  ivy  are  wrought  in  the 
fine  marble  with  almost  complete  botanical  perfection.  The 
power  of  monumental  abstraction,  together  with  a  fine  sugges- 
tion of  nature,  was  never  reached  by  the  Italian  ornamentists. 
A  proneness  to  close  imitation,  where  nature  itself  supplies  the 
motives  for  ornamental  elements,  is  constant  with  them.  And 
their  natural  propensity  for  such  imitation  is  still  more  fully 
manifest  in  the  time  of  the  early  Renaissance  in  such  works  as 
the  ornamental  borders  of  the  Ghiberti  gates  in  Florence. 

Perhaps  the  finest  foliate  sculpture  that  Italy  ever  produced 
is  that  of  the  older  capitals  of  the  Ducal  Palace  in  Venice.  This 
sculpture  has  a  degree  of  architectural  character  which  is  rare 
outside  of  France ;  and  it  is  remarkable  for  beauty  of  line  and 
surface,  caught  from  nature  itself,  without  any  over-naturalism. 

There  was  no  important  native  development  of  sculp- 
ture in  Spain  during  the  Middle  Ages.  The  statues  which 
adorn  some  of  the  Gothic  edifices  in  that  country  are,  like  the 
architecture  itself,  of  essentially  French  character,  if  not  of 
French  workmanship.  But  the  employment  of  statues  was 
not  general,  even  in  the  greater  Gothic  buildings.  The  facade 
of  the  Cathedral  of  Burgos,  for  instance,  has  no  figure  sculpture 
whatever.  The  portals  of  the  west  facade  of  St.  Vincent  of 
Avilla  are,  however,  enriched  with  statues,  dating  apparently 
from  the  latter  part  of  the  twelfth  century,  which  are  thoroughly 
architectural  in  expression.  They  compare  favourably  with  the 
best  sculptures  of  the  same  epoch  in  France,  and  show  similar 
archaisms  and  the  same  meritorious  qualities.  Two  statues  on 
either  side  of  the  portal  of  St.  Martin  of  Segovia  have  much 
the  same  character  and  are  equally  architectural  in  design  and 
connection  with  the  building ;  but  they  are  rather  less  iine  in 
form.  Of  more  advanced  sculpture  the  portals  or  the  transept 
of  the  Cathedral  of  Burgos  furnish  examples.  These  correspond 
to  later  Gothic  work  in  France,  but  they  are  not  so  architectural, 


414  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap,  xiv 

and  they  are  placed  between  the  shafts  of  the  jambs,  rather  than 
against  them.  The  tympanum  sculptures  of  this  portal  are  in 
very  high  relief,  and  neither  they  nor  the  statues  of  the  jambs 
show  any  conspicuously  fine  qualities.  Statues  of  a  good  late 
Gothic  type  occur  also  in  the  portal  of  the  Church  of  St.  Este- 
ban  of  Burgos,  and  a  rich  assemblage  of  still  more  advanced 
and  more  elaborate  figures  occurs  in  the  portals  of  the  west 
front  of  Leon  Cathedral.  These  are  lacking  in  monumental 
severity,  though  as  independent  sculptures  they  have  the  qual- 
ities of  corresponding  works  in  France.  The  reliefs  of  the 
tympanums  of  Leon  have  much  merit  as  architectural  enrich- 
ments. 

Foliate  sculpture  in  Spain  is  no  more  original  or  important 
than  that  of  the  figure.  The  capitals  and  string-courses  of  the 
Gothic  buildings  exhibit,  for  the  most  part,  French  motives  with 
little  modification.  The  conventional  leafage  of  the  cornice 
of  the  choir  of  Burgos,  for  instance,  might  have  been  taken 
directly  from  Paris  or  Amiens,  as  might  also  those  of  the  capi- 
tals and  bases  which  adorn  the  angles  of  the  buttresses. 


CHAPTER   XV 

GOTHIC   PAINTING   AND   STAINED   GLASS   IN   FRANCE 

Though  colours  were  employed  on  many  parts  of  the  Gothic 
building,  enlivening  sculpture  and  relieving  plain  surfaces  with 
various  ornamental  patterns,  the  art  of  figure  painting  found 
less  scope  in  Gothic  art  than  it  had  in  connection  with  the 
architecture  of  those  parts  of  Gatil  which  lay  outside  of  the 
region  of  the  Gothic  movement.  This,  as  before  remarked 
(p.  22),  was  a  natural  consequence  of  the  Gothic  structural  sys- 
tem, in  which  extensive  wall  surfaces,  inviting  the  exercise  of 
the  painter's  art,  did  not  exist. 

Yet  on  such  restricted  wall  spaces  as  there  were  figure 
painting  was  more  or  less  practised  in  the  Ile-de-France ;  and 
some  notice  of  this  painting  is  therefore  necessary  to  complete 
our  study  of  the  Gothic  style.  Unhappily,  no  examples  of 
wall  painting  in  Gothic  buildings  have  survived  in  good  condi- 
tion ;  and  such  scanty  and  mutilated  remains  as  do  exist  (in  the 
transept  of  Noyon,  and  in  the  wall  arcades  of  the  Sainte  Cha- 
pelle  at  Paris,  for  instance)  are  insufficient  to  afford  a  clear 
understanding  of  their  original  character.  But  illuminated 
manuscripts  of  the  Gothic  period  are  extant  in  abundance  and 
in  excellent  preservation  ;  and  from  them,  rather  than  from  the 
almost  obliterated  examples  of  painting  that  are  occasionally 
met  with  on  the  walls  of  churches,  we  may  derive  illustrations 
of  Gothic  art  in  this  branch. 

Mediaeval  painting,  as  exhibited  in  these  manuscripts,  shows 
a  very  primitive  state  of  pictorial  development.  Only  the  most 
elementary  qualities  of  outline  and  colour  are  displayed,  and  the 
art  is  strictly  ornamental,  rather  than  realistic,  in  motive  and 
in  treatment.  The  drawing  exhibits  a  curious  mingling  of 
archaic  simplicity  with  great  elegance  of  line.  In  delineation 
of  the  human  figure,  and  expression  of  graceful  gesture  and 
movement,  the  French  illuminators  developed  by  the  beginning 

4>5 


4i6 


GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 


CHAP. 


of  the  thirteenth  century  a  degree  of  skill  that  was  not  attained 
in  Italy  until  the  century  following.  Yet  joined  with  this  skill 
the  conventions  of  immaturity  are  everywhere  conspicuous. 
The  colours  are  laid  in  almost  flat  fields,  though  modellings  are 
suggested  by  pale  markings  to  indicate  saliences,  and  by  dark 
hatchings  to  express  depressions  ;  but  there  is  never  any  indi- 
cation of  the  direction  from  which  the  light  falls,  and  no  cast 
shadows.  The  natural  creamy-white  colour  of  the  vellum  stands 
for  flesh,  but  cheeks  and  lips  are  slightly  reddened.  Features 
are  drawn  in  with  fine  lines  of  brown  or  black,  and  a  distinct 


Fig.  241. 


outline  of  the  same  describes  every  contour  and  every  detail. 
In  the  twelfth  century  the  outline  is  usually  brown,  and  both 
figures  and  backgrounds  are  light  in  tone  ;  while  in  the  thir- 
teenth century  the  outlines  become  black,  and  figures  and 
backgrounds  are  more  intense  in  hue.  Usually  in  the  thirteenth 
century  the  backgrounds  are  quite  flat,  and  are  generally  either 
of  an  ultramarine  blue  or  of  a  brownish  red  colour.  In  some 
cases,  as  in  a  manuscript  of  the  Life  of  St.  Denis  (Fig.  241), 
dating  from  the  middle  of  this  century,  figures  are  represented 
with  no  ground  under  their  feet.  No  correct  expression  of 
different  planes  of  distance  occurs,  and  no  perspective  is  at- 


XV  P.4INTING  AND  STAINED  GLASS  IN  FRANCE  417 

tempted.  Where  one  figure  has  to  be  represented  behind 
another,  the  farther  one  is  but  partially  drawn,  like  the  farther 
horse  in  this  illustration,  which  is  given  without  legs.  The 
whole  character  of  the  work  is  thus  essentially  ornamental  and 
conventional,  rather  than  completely  pictorial,  yet  it  is  often 
both  tender  in  expression  and  beautiful  in  composition  ;  and  it 
rarely  fails,  in  its  various  quarterings,  to  exhibit  a  fine  harmony 
of  mostly  pure  colour  combinations. 

This  painting  is,  of  course,  based  upon  the  traditional  art 
that  had,  from  the  early  Christian  times,  been  cultivated  in  the 
monasteries  of  Europe.  It  has,  however,  a  superior  beauty  which 
is  altogether  peculiar  to  Gothic  art,  though,  unlike  Gothic  sculp- 
ture, it  failed  to  develop  beyond  the  most  primitive  technical 
conditions. 

It  was  not  in  the  field  of  painting  proper,  but  in  that  of 
stained  glass,  that  chromatic  design,  in  Gothic  architecture, 
where  the  great  openings  afforded  ample  space  that  was  denied 
to  wall-painting,  reached  its  most  splendid  development.  Though 
simpler  forms  of  this  art  had  been  practised  earlier,  the  fullest 
magnificence  of  stained  glass  is  peculiar  to  the  Gothic  of  the 
twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries. 

The  natural  limitations  of  this  mode  of  colour  design  are  such 
as  to  confine  the  artist  to  the  most  abstract  and  conventional 
treatment.  His  material  resources  are  those  only  which  are 
afforded  by  sheets  of  glass  coloured,  in  a  molten  state,  by  me- 
tallic oxides,  cut  up  into  bits  and  joined  together  by  bars  of 
lead  and  iron,  and  drawn  upon  with  a  pencil  charged  with  a 
neutral  pigment  which  is  burnt  in.  It  is  plain  that  only  a  most 
conventional  kind  of  art  could  be  produced  by  such  means.  Yet 
by  them  the  mediaeval  artist  achieved  results  of  consummate 
ornamental  beauty. 

The  task  of  the  designer  in  stained  glass  was,  on  the  one 
hand,  to  subdue  the  light  and  give  a  comfortable  sense  of  en- 
closure, and  on  the  other  to  produce  brilliant  harmonies  of 
translucent  colours,  and  to  add  such  pictorial  interest  as  the 
conditions  controlling  his  art  would  permit.  The  fundamental 
difference  between  this  art  and  the  art  of  painting  on  an  opaque 
substance  is,  of  course,  that  in  the  one  case  light  passes  through 
the  design  everywhere,  while  in  the  other  it  falls  upon  its  sur- 
face only.     This  difference  separates  the  two  by  an  impassable 


41 8  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

gulf.  With  the  translucencc  of  glass,  and  the  structural  lead 
lines,  those  effects  of  solid  form  and  planes  of  distance,  which 
are  dependent  upon  a  greater  or  less  development  of  light  and 
shade,  are  impossible.  The  Gothic  workman  appreciated  this, 
and  not  only  did  not  attempt  to  produce  such  effects,  but  evi- 
dently took  pleasure  in  keeping  well  within  the  limitations  of 
his  materials  and  conditions.  The  true  artist  does  this,  of 
course,  in  every  branch  of  art ;  but  in  no  other  branch  are  the 
proper  limitations  so  narrow,  and  at  no  other  time  do  we  find 
the  artist  in  stained  glass  so  obedient  to  them.  If  he  would 
preserve  the  translucent  beauty  of  the  glass,  the  colours  which 
make  up  the  design  must  be  employed  in  a  strictly  heraldic 
manner.  Hardly  may  the  least  gradation  indicative  of  solid 
form  occur,  and  the  conventions  of  line  are  equally  peculiar 
and  imperative.  For  these  lines  are  not  outlines  merely ;  they 
are  the  framework  in  which  the  bits  of  glass  are  set  and  held 
together.  They  are,  therefore,  necessarily  coarse  beyond  any 
lines  used  in  even  the  most  conventional  wall  painting.  Within 
the  great  lead  lines  the  artist  does,  it  is  true,  give  with  the 
pencil  more  or  less  delineation  of  the  coarser  details  of  his  fig- 
ures. By  applying  his  neutral  pigment  either  heavily  or  lightly, 
and  by  scratching  out  lights  with  the  point  of  a  sharpened 
stick,  he  can  produce  some  rude  suggestions  of  gradation  and 
modelling ;  but  this  is  usually  not  carried  to  the  extent  of  de- 
stroying the  general  translucencc  of  even  the  smallest  bit  of 
glass.  In  the  general  effect,  at  a  distance  from  which  the  de- 
sign can  be  seen  as  a  whole,  these  details  count  for  little :  the 
chief  impression  received  is  one  of  jewel-like  effulgence  of 
colour.  The  conventions  of  the  art  ought  not  to  be  regarded  as 
imperfections,  for  on  them  are  the  qualities  dependent.  And 
even  the  archaisms  of  figure  drawing,  which  arc  not  wholly  the 
result  of  the  material  conditions,  but  are  largely  due  to  unde- 
veloped graphic  skill,  accord  so  well  with  the  unavoidable  con- 
ventions that  we  can  hardly  conceive  of  their  being  changed 
with  good  effect. 

The  art  of  designing  in  stained  glass  would  seem  to  be 
incapable  of  real  development  beyond  the  conditions  that  were 
reached  in  the  Middle  Ages.  Modern  attempts  to  give  it  a 
more  complete  pictorial  character  indicate  an  imperfect  recogni- 
tion of    its  inherent  principles,  and  an  imperfect  appreciation 


XV 


PAINTING  AND  STAINED  GLASS  IN  FRANCE 


419 


of  the  beauty  of  the  mediaeval  art.  The  modern  devices  of 
fusing  and  overlaying  have  led  the  designer  in  stained  glass  out 
of  the  true  path  ;  and  since  the  thirteenth  century  all  manner  of 
attempts  have  been  made  to  give  the  art  a  character  that  does 
not  properly  belong  to  it. 

Of  the  vast  numbers  of  mag- 
nificent colour  designs  which 
filled  the  great  openings  of  the 
Gothic  churches  of  the  twelfth 
and  thirteenth  centuries,  very 
few  are  extant ;  but  yet  enough  is 
preserved  to  show  us  fully  what 
the  art  was.  From  the  middle 
of  the  twelfth  century  we  have 
some  fragments  in  the  apsidal 
chapels  of  the  Church  of  St. 
Denis,  while  the  Cathedral  of 
Chartres  retains,  in  almost  per- 
fect condition,  many  noble  speci- 
mens dating  from  the  latter  part 
of  the  same  century.  Among 
these  last  is  the  well-known 
Jesse  window,  which  may  be 
taken  as  an  example  of  the  best 
work  of  the  time,  or  of  any  time. 
Figure  242,  a  figure  from  this 
window,  affords  an  illustration  of 
its  character,  so  far  as  the  delin- 
eation of  form  is  concerned.  The 
design  is  produced,  for  the  most 
part,  out  of  pure  pot-metal,  while 
white  glass  is  introduced  here 
and  there  to  heighten  the  ef- 
fect in  draperies  and  ornaments. 
Each  piece  of  glass  is  of  one 
colour,  so  that  where  colour  changes  new  pieces  have  to  be 
inserted ;  and  each  separate  piece  is  encompassed  by  its  sus- 
taining framework  of  lead.  On  various  parts  of  the  design 
thus  made  up,  as  in  a  mosaic,  of  many  small  fragments,  the 
necessary  details  are,  as  before  remarked,  drawn  with  a  pencil 


Fig.  242. 


420  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap,  xv 

charged  with  neutral  pigment.  The  figures  in  this  period  are 
small,  rarely  more  than  two  or  three  feet  high,  and  often  very 
much  smaller,  the  separate  pieces  of  glass  hardly  ever  e.xceed- 
ing  six  inches  in  greatest  dimension. 

The  Cathedral  of  Chartres  is  unique  among  extant  Gothic 
buildings  in  its  wealth  of  mediaeval  glass,  nearly  all  of  the 
original  work  of  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries  remaining 
in  place  and  in  good  condition.  Though  a  fragile  form  of  art, 
stained  glass  is,  if  undisturbed  by  accident  or  violence,  one  of 
the  most  permanent.  But  unhappily,  by  both  accident  and 
violence,  the  greater  number  of  extant  Gothic  monuments  have 
been  more  or  less  completely  despoiled  of  their  ancient  glass ; 
and  their  interiors,  in  consequence,  present  to-day  a  very  differ- 
ent aspect  from  that  which  they  originally  had. 

Of  the  glass  of  the  thirteenth  century  some  fine  specimens 
still  exist  in  Paris,  Reims,  Bourges,  and  elsewhere.  The  Cathe- 
dral of  Paris  retains  the  splendid  glass  of  its  three  great  roses 
—  those  of  the  transept  and  that  of  the  west  end  —  practically 
intact ;  while  the  glass  of  the  Sainte  Chapelle,  though  much 
mended,  still  fills  every  opening.  The  heraldic  treatment  re- 
mains as  absolute  as  in  the  earlier  work ;  but  it  is  noticeable 
that  the  fields  of  colour  are  never  absolutely  flat.  Nearly  every- 
where there  is  some  gradation,  and  in  some  cases  there  is  con- 
siderable. This,  however,  is  not  gradation  indicative  of  solid 
form ;  it  has  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  form.  It  is  due 
to  inequality  of  thickness  and  accidental  unevenness  of  colour  in 
the  pot-metal.  This  unevenness  of  colour,  which  is  a  natural 
quality  of  the  old  glass,  adds  a  charm  which  no  glass  wrought 
with  mechanical  perfection  can  have. 


CHAPTER   XVI 

PAINTING  AND  STAINED  GLASS  IN  ENGLAND  AND  OTHER  COUNTRIES 

Although  during  the  twelfth  and  early  thirteenth  centuries 
the  art  of  painting  on  the  walls  of  churches,  and  of  otherwise 
colouring  architecture,  was  extensively  practised  in  all  of  the 
countries  of  Europe,  yet  there  was  nothing  in  other  countries 
of  essentially  different  character  from  that  which  was  produced 
in  France.  The  tenderness  of  sentiment  and  the  elegance  of 
design  which  give  charm  to  the  works  of  French  genius  were 
not,  indeed,  equalled  in  those  of  other  countries ;  but  in  general 
principles  the  art  was  the  same  all  over  Europe  until  the  close 
of  the  thirteenth  century,  when,  in  Italy,  the  great  movement  set 
in  which  ultimately  led,  in  that  country,  to  the  highest  develop- 
ment of  painting.  The  earliest  pictorial  art  of  Italy  was  poste- 
rior to  the  epoch  of  .strictly  Gothic  building  in  the  North.  But 
as  it  was  associated  with  the  Italian  pointed  architecture  its 
early  phases  properly  form  a  part  of  our  subject. 

Italian  painting  exhibits  from  the  first  ^  technical  qualities 
which  are  hardly  met  with  in  the  same  degree  of  advancement 
in  the  Gothic  of  the  North.  Though  the  outline  remains  dis- 
tinct, it  is  less  prominent  than  in  France,  and  the  elements  of 
chiaroscuro  and  perspective,  though  but  slightly  and  imper- 
fectly suggested,  are  nevertheless  present.  A  more  advanced 
pictorial  conception  and  treatment  are  everywhere  manifest. 
The  character  of  illumination  is  still  strongly  marked,  but  the 
elements  of  distinctively  pictorial  art  are  equally  so.  The  art 
of  Cimabue,  at  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century,  shows  an 
improvement  upon  the  severe  conventions  of  French  Gothic 
painting  in  the  fuller  gradations  and  delicate  modellings  which 
give  a  faint  touch  of  reality  to  flesh  and  draperies ;  while  in  the 
works  of  Giotto,  in  the  early  part  of  the  century  following,  we 

1  From  the  first  of  the  distinctively  Italian  art,  the  Greco-Roman  and  Italo- 
Byzantine  arts  which  were  practised  in  Italy  during  the  early  Middle  Ages  are  not 
here  referred  to. 

421 


422  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

get,  together  with  the  higher  qualities  of  the  creative  imagination, 
a  technical  advance  which  materially  changed  the  character  of 
the  art,  and  gave  it  a  start  in  the  direction  of  pictorial  realism. 

The  earliest  examples  of  Italian  mediaeval  wall  painting,  and 
almost  the  only  ones  which  have  any  real  connection  with  our 
subject,  are  those  of  the  Church  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi,  of  Sta. 
Croce  of  Florence,  and  of  a  few  other  contemporaneous  monu- 
ments. Though  of  the  Italian  pointed  style,  the  architecture  of 
these  buildings  is,  as  we  have  seen,  essentially  different  from 
the  Gothic.  In  place  of  great  openings  and  slender  supports 
we  have  here  large  flat  wall  areas  and  small  openings.  The 
interiors  of  such  buildings  would  be  bald  in  the  extreme  with- 
out colour  illumination.  These  wall  expanses,  and  the  absence 
of  great  fields  of  brilliantly  coloured  glass  in  trying  competi- 
tion with  the  quiet  tones  of  fresco,  gave  the  most  favourable 
conditions  for  the  exercise  of  the  mural  painter's  art.  But,  un- 
like the  modern  painter  on  small  movable  canvases,  the  mediaeval 
Italian,  called  to  paint  upon  the  walls  of  churches,  had  con- 
stantly forced  upon  his  mind  the  monumental  purpose  of  his  art 
—  an  habitual  sense  of  which  naturally  develops  the  grandest 
qualities  of  painting.  This  led  him  to  regard  his  wall  space 
primarily  as  a  field  to  be  embellished  with  colour ;  and  although 
he  had  both  a  pictorial  and  a  didactic  purpose  as  well,  he  rightly 
felt  that  everything  else  must  be  based  upon  a  pleasing  orna- 
mental scheme.  His  panel  had  to  be  divided  into  spaces  of 
colours  so  related  to  each  other  as  to  produce  a  harmony  of  total 
effect.  Upon  this  basis  a  Scriptural  story,  or  a  religious  legend, 
had,  at  the  same  time,  to  be  set  forth  with  as  much  truth  to 
nature  as  the  primitive  artist  could  command.  But  with  all  his 
effort  to  be  natural  he  worked  as  an  artist,  instinctively  feeling 
that  the  primary  function  of  a  work  of  art  is  to  set  forth  beauty; 
and  the  beauty  which  he  sought  to  display  was  embodied  in  the 
mediaeval  Christian  ideals.  He  strove  to  give  an  appearance 
of  reality  to  these  ideals,  not  merely  to  reproduce  nature.  Since, 
however,  an  appearance  of  reality  could  be  secured  through  a  re- 
semblance to  nature  only,  such  resemblance  he  faithfully  sought 
to  attain  as  far  as  the  monumental  conditions  under  which  he 
worked  would  permit.  His  naturalism  was  necessarily  of  a 
limited  and  conventional  kind,  both  on  account  of  these  con- 
ditions and  because  of   his  own  executive  incapacity.      But  it 


XVI         PAINTING  AND  STAINED  GLASS  IN  ENGLAND  423 

was  sufficient  to  give  his  work  a  very  different  character  from 
the  purely  symbolic  art  of  still  earlier  times.  Modelling  and 
perspective  were  both  rendered  as  far  as  the  artist's  knowledge 
and  skill  would  allow.  This  did  no  harm  to  his  art,  considered 
as  pure  decoration ;  for  there  is,  in  fact,  no  such  complete  in- 
compatibility of  naturalistic  with  monumental  painting  as  is 
sometimes  supposed.^  So  long  as  the  artist  preserves  a  general 
ornamental  scheme,  he  may,  in  painting,  go  very  far  in  the  de- 
velopment of  pictorial  realism  without  harm  to  monumental 
effectiveness.  The  frescos  of  Giotto  and  his  followers  exhibit, 
however,  no  realism  in  the  modern  sense ;  they  are  based  on 
principles  of  abstraction  which  were  imposed  by  the  material 
conditions  and  executive  limitations,  as  well  as  by  the  aims  and 
ideals,  of  the  time. 

But  this  early  Italian  painting,  though  an  appropriate  em- 
bellishment of  the  walls  of  pointed  buildings  in  Italy,  and  hav- 
ing a  good  deal  in  common  with  the  spirit  of  Gothic,  was  but 
the  beginning  of  a  great  school  of  art  w^hich  had  no  relation  to 
Gothic,  and  the  discussion  of  which  would  therefore  be  foreign 
to  our  present  subject. 

In  stained  glass  there  were  no  peculiar  styles  either  in  Eng- 
land, Germany,  Italy,  or  Spain.  The  use  which  in  Romanesque 
times  had  everywhere  been  made  of  this  mode  of  filling  aper- 
tures continued  in  each  of  these  countries  during  the  Gothic 
period.  In  many  cases  fine  examples  of  Gothic  glass  design 
were  executed,  especially  in  England  and  Germany.  But  the 
art  was  mainly  dependent  on  France. 

^  I  think  that  M.  Viollet-le-Duc,  in  his  article  Peinture,  errs  in  maintaining  that 
the  principles  of  pictorial  art  are  necessarily  and  completely  opposed  to  the  principles 
of  ornamental  art.  He  refers  to  the  works  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  and  Persians  as 
illustrating  the  true  principles  of  ornamental  art,  and  to  the  works  of  Titian  and 
Rembrandt  as  illustrating  those  of  pictorial  art,  and  argues  that  the  C|ualities  of  the 
one  are  incompatil)le  with  those  of  the  other.  This  is  an  extreme  comparison,  but 
tiie  principle  for  which  he  contends  is,  nevertheless,  not  supported  by  it.  The  author 
fails  t(j  see  that  even  the  art  of  Titian  is  based  upon  a  general  ornamental  scheme  of 
lines,  masses,  and  colours,  no  less  strictly  than  tlie  most  abstract  art  of  the  Egyptians 
and  Persians,  from  which  it  is,  in  fact,  througli  a  long  series  of  intermediate  develop- 
ments, derived  ;  and  that  so  long  as  this  ornamental  scheme  governs  the  composition, 
a  Work  of  art  may  be  very  far  advanced  in  pictorial  character  withcjut  losing  in  orna- 
mental and  monumental  effectiveness  and  propriety. 

The  art  of  Rembrandt  is  different.  He,  though  a  great  master  of  expression,  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  that  modern  picturesque  realism  which  is  largely  independent 
of  ornamental  (]ualities. 


CHAPTER   XVII 

CONCLUDING  SUMMARY 

The  foregoing  examination  and  comparison  of  the  pointed 
architectures  of  the  different  countries  of  Europe  will  be  seen, 
I  think,  to  afford  a  serviceable,  though  it  be  not  an  exhaustive, 
illustration  of  the  peculiar  nature  of  Gothic  architecture,  and  to 
throw  light  upon  its  origin.  The  true  nature  of  this  architec- 
ture has  not,  hitherto,  been  generally  understood,  because  its 
distinctive  characteristics  have  not  been  clearly  recognized ; 
and  it  has  not  been  seen  that  its  essential  features  were  not 
independent  or  arbitrary  inventions,  but  were  based  on  princi- 
ples gradually  deduced  from  practice,  and  determined  by  the 
laws  of  mechanics  governing  the  structure,  as  well  as  by  a 
finely  creative  artistic  sense.  Our  examination  of  these  princi- 
ples, as  embodied  in  surviving  monuments,  reveals  the  existence 
of  a  great  class  of  buildings  which  display  a  perfectly  distinc- 
tive character,  and  which  are  confined,  for  the  most  part,  to  one 
closely  circumscribed  region.  In  this  region  a  logical  growth, 
from  the  earliest  germs,  of  the  principles  of  Gothic  art  may 
still  be  traced.  Elsewhere  we  find  buildings,  in  all  cases  later 
in  date  of  erection,  which  exhibit  many  apparently  kindred  fea- 
tures, but  which,  in  hardly  a  single  instance,  completely  display 
in  their  structure  the  same  distinctive  system,  and  in  many  cases 
do  not  display  it  at  all.  In  France,  and  in  France  alone,  is  the 
system  complete  and  the  development  apparent.  There  only 
are  the  successive  steps  of  change  spontaneous  and  connected, 
and  there  alone  does  the  inventive  spirit  of  the  builders  mani- 
fest itself  as  animated  by  a  general  movement. 

And  what  the  monuments  themselves  show,  is  borne  out 
by  what  might  be  fairly  inferred  from  our  knowledge  of  the 
respective  conditions  of  the  different  countries  in  the  twelfth 
and  thirteenth  centuries.  In  France,  as  I  have  before  re- 
marked, the  ethnological  constitution  of  the  people  was  such 
as  to  render  them  the  most  artistic  race  of  Northern  Europe, 

424 


CHAP.  XVII  CONCLUDING  SUMMARY  425 

while  their  social  and  political  conditions  were  most  favourable 
to  artistic  production  of  a  monumental  kind.  The  force  of 
natural  aptitude,  the  spirit  of  communal  independence,  of 
national  unity,  and  of  religious  zeal,  were  all  highly  conducive 
to  the  fruitful  exercise  of  the  native  artistic  powers.  The  gen- 
eral superiority  of  the  French,  at  this  time,  in  institutions  and 
in  letters,  has  long  been  recognized.  It  is  but  natural  that  they 
should  have  been  superior  also  in  the  fine  arts. 

In  England,  at  this  epoch,  the  conditions  were  very  different. 
Prior  to  the  Norman  Conquest  no  architecture  of  importance 
had  been  developed  in  the  island,  though  the  rudiments  of  a 
style  existed  which  might,  perhaps,  in  time,  have  grown  into 
importance.  By  the  Conquest  the  progress  of  this  art  was  nat- 
urally checked  ;  and  all  native  activity  in  building  was  for  a 
long  time  held  in  abeyance  by  the  fact  that  the  conquerors 
placed  a  prelate  or  an  abbot  of  their  own  race  at  the  head  of 
nearly  every  diocese  and  monastery.  No  admixture  of  foreign 
blood  had  given  to  the  English  people  what  their  Teutonic  nature 
lacked  in  the  direction  of  artistic  aptitudes.  The  Norman  infu- 
sion at  length  did  much  ;  but  the  Norman  race  was  itself  too 
near  of  kin  to  introduce  such  new  elements  as  would  have  been 
required  for  a  fresh  and  original  development  of  art. 

After  the  oppression  of  the  conquerors  had  in  a  measure 
ceased,  and  the  fusion  of  the  two  races  had  so  far  progressed 
as  to  remove  the  old  distinctions  between  Normans  and  English- 
men, and  produce  somewhat  of  common  national  feeling,  the 
conditions  for  the  growth  of  a  national  art  were  still  far  less 
auspicious  than  they  were  in  France.  No  free  communities 
like  those  of  the  Continent  existed.  The  town  had  not,  in 
England,  the  character  and  meaning  that  the  Commune  had  in 
France.  It  was  not,  as  in  France,  a  great  centre  of  indepen- 
dent life  where  the  arts  might  naturally  call  out  the  enthusiastic 
activity  of  large  bodies  of  men  working  in  the  municipal  employ. 
Ecclesiastical  corporations  and  private  individuals  alone,  under 
the  Crown,  held  in  England  the  powers  which  in  France  were  pos- 
sessed by  the  Communes.^  The  cathedrals  here  did  not  gener- 
ally spring  up  as  central  objects  in  active  towns ;  they  were 
placed  often  in  remote  places,  and  in  connection  with  monastic 
houses.       Salisbury,  Wells,    Peterborough,   Worcester,    Canter- 

^  Cf.  Freeman's  Norman  Conquest,  vol.  v.  chap.  xxv. 


426  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap. 

bury,  and  many  others  remain  to  this  day  surrounded  by  Uttle 
more  than  country  villages ;  while  even  York  and  Lincoln 
cathedrals  had  a  closer  connection  with  the  Bishops'  sees  than 
with  the  towns  in  which  they  are  situated.  The  spirit  of  popu- 
lar enthusiasm,  of  which  the  Abbot  Haymon  writes,^  had  no 
counterpart  in  England.  Church  building  was  here  much  more 
exclusively  in  charge  of  the  clergy,  regular  and  secular.  ^  It  is, 
in  fact,  one  of  the  essential  points  of  difference  between  the 
pointed  architecture  of  England  and  the  Gothic  of  France  in 
the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries  that  the  former  was  largely 
an  ecclesiastical,  rather  than  a  popular,  development. 

The  native  English  activity  in  building,  which  was  checked 
by  the  Conquest,  did  not  remain  wholly  or  permanently  inactive. 
It  was,  however,  natural  that  it  should  be  strongly  influenced 
by  that  of  the  foreign  settlers^  which  was  the  result  of  a  superior 
discipline  and  culture ;  but  it  had  character  and  independence 
enough  to  react  in  turn.  Hence  the  later  Norman  art  of  Eng- 
land assumed,  at  length,  a  character  of  its  own.  But  the  Eng- 
lish influence  affected  only  the  ornamental  features  and  details 
of  the  architecture  ;  the  art  remained,  in  its  structural  principles 
and  forms,  essentially  Norman.  Even  the  advanced  pointed 
monuments  —  the  Cathedral  of  Salisbury,  the  nave  and  transept 
of  Wells,  aiid  the  Presbytery  of  Lincoln,  among  others — are, 
as  we  have  seen,  substantially  Norman  buildings.  They  differ 
from  those  of  the  earlier  Norman  style  in  little  more  than  the 
substitution  of  pointed  arches  for  round  arches,  and  in  the  modi- 
fication of  mouldings  and  ornaments.  This  architecture  can- 
not, therefore,  be  properly  called  English  in  the  sense  of  being 
a  purely  native  product :  it  is  Anglo-Norman.  And  this  is,  of 
course,  largely  French,  since  the  dominant  artistic  influence, 
under  which  both  Normans  and  English  worked  at  this  time, 
was  that  of  France. 

1  The  well-known  letter  of  the  Abbot  Haymon,  of  St.  Pierre-sur-Divc,  written  in 
1 1 54,  gives  an  impressive  account  of  the  religious  ardour  which  actuated  all  classes  of 
the  jjeople,  and  the  material  assistance  which  they  voluntarily  rendered  towards  the 
construction  of  the  church  edifice. 

^  Among  the  monks  and  the  clergy  there  was,  indeed,  no  lack  of  zeal  in  architec- 
tural construction.  15ishop  Hugh,  of  Lincoln,  is  said  to  have  assisted  with  his  own 
hands  in  the  erection  of  his  splendid  choir,  and  records  are  numerous  of  other 
similar  instances.  But  no  general  popular  activity  in  connection  with  the  building 
of  churches,  like  that  which  prevailed  in  France,  appears  to  have  been  called  out. 


XVII  CONCLUDING  SUMMARY  427 

"  Macaulay,"  says  Freeman/  "has  truly  remarked  that  the 
history  of  England  for  a  considerable  period  after  the  Conquest 
is  not  English  history  at  all,  but  French.  It  was  not  till  the 
reign  of  Edward  I,  at  the  earliest,  that  our  kings  and  nobles 
could  be  regarded  as  really  our  fellow-countrymen."  And 
likewise  it  may  be  said  that  the  architecture  of  England  at 
the  same  epoch  was  not  English  architecture  at  all,  but 
French.  Of  the  two  elements,  English  and  Norman,  which 
mainly  constitute  the  English  race,  the  English  has,  in  the 
long  run,  proved  the  stronger;  and  it  has,  since  the  thirteenth 
century,  held  the  ascendant  in  arts  no  less  than  in  the  institu- 
tions. The  character,  however,  that  architecture  has  assumed, 
since  this  ascendency  became  active,  is  by  no  means  so 
admirable  as  that  which  it  had  before.  The  perpendicular 
style,  which  alone  since  the  Conquest  is  entitled  to  be  called 
an  English  art,^  is  certainly  neither  Gothic  nor  at  all  compara- 
ble in  merits  to  the  architecture  which  it  superseded.^ 

In  Germany  the  conditions  in  the  twelfth  century  were  not 
more  favourable  to  the  formation  of  a  style  like  the  Gothic. 
The  grand  Romanesque  architecture  of  the  country  was,  in  the 
main,  a  native  style,  and  was  well  suited  to  the  local  condi- 
tions. The  Germans  showed  little  disposition  to  change  radi- 
cally this  style,  and  they  had  little  need  to  do  so.  The  inventive 
genius  of  the  people  was  less  quick  than  that  of  the  French ; 
and  no  event,  like  the  Norman  Conquest  of  England,  occurred 
to  infuse  foreign  ideas  and  stimulate  to  new  architectural  de- 
partures. Under  these  circumstances  the  principles  of  building 
remained  long  unchanged ;  and  when  finally  the  Gothic  of 
France  began  to  e.xert  an  influence,  it  was  rather  through  imi- 
tation, than  through  a  new  spirit  of  invention,  that  it  was 
manifest. 

Whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  pointed  architecture  of 
Italy,  few  persons  have  supposed  that  there  was  ever  any  origi- 
nal development  of  the  Gothic  style  in  that  country.  The  large 
infusions  of  foreign  blood,  through  the  various  incursions  of  the 

'  Life,  vol.  i.  p.  126. 

2  "  Every  church  I  see  convinces  me  more  and  more  that  this  (the  perpendicular) 
is  our  peculiarly  English  style."     Freeman,  Life,  vol.  i.  p.  86. 

^  Even  Rickman,  An  Attempt  to  discriminate  the  Styles  of  Architecture  in  Eng" 
land,  p.  5,  recognizes  the  decadent  character  of  the  perpendicular  style. 


428  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  chap,  xvii 

Northern  races,  had  been  absorbed  into  purely  Italian  veins. 
Italian  tastes,  traditions,  and  needs  were  all  favourable  to  the 
ancient  forms  of  building,  which  were  their  own  natural  inheri- 
tance ;  and  in  the  revival  of  the  arts,  after  the  stagnant  period 
which  followed  the  downfall  of  the  ancient  civilization,  it  was 
only  natural  that  the  Italians  should  show  a  predominant  pref- 
erence for  them.  The  Italians  of  the  Middle  Ages  were  never 
constructive  builders.  The  Romanesque  of  Italy  (excepting 
always  the  semi-Teutonic  Lombard-Romanesque)  was  not  an 
organic  and  structurally  progressive  style.  The  Cathedral  of 
Pisa,  for  instance,  though  subtle  in  its  proportions,  and  beauti- 
ful in  its  details,  is  in  construction,  for  the  most  part,  like  a 
Christian  Roman  basilica  of  the  earliest  times.  Its  superim- 
posed arcades  are  without  organic  connection ;  and  there  is 
nothing  in  the  system  that  could  give  rise  to  new  structural 
developments.  A  comparison  of  Pisa  with  the  nearly  contem- 
poraneous Abbaye-aux-Dames  of  Caen  will  show  how  widely 
the  Italian  Romanesque  differs  from  that  rudimentary  organic 
system  which  contained  the  germs  of  the  Gothic  style. 

There  can  certainly  be  no  question  with  regard  to  an 
original  development  of  Gothic  art  in  Spain.  The  Christian  civili- 
zation of  the  country  was,  from  the  time  of  the  Moorish  invasion, 
far  too  unsettled  to  admit  of  such  a  development,  even 
had  the  artistic  constitution  of  the  race  been  favourable.  Of 
all  the  nations  of  the  West  the  Spanish,  in  the  Middle  Ages, 
were  the  least  advanced  in  those  conditions  of  political  and 
social  organization,  and  of  intellectual  and  moral  life,  which 
favour  the  development  of  the  fine  arts. 

It  does  not  then  from  historical  considerations,  any  more 
than  from  those  which  the  buildings  of  the  different  countries 
themselves  suggest,  appear  that  Gothic  architecture  arose  either 
in  England,  Germany,  Italy,  or  Spain ;  but  everything  points 
clearly  to  France  as  the  locality  of  its  origin,  and  the  only 
locality  of  its  full  and  distinctive  development. 

And  of  the  pure  French  Gothic  of  the  twelfth  century  it  is 
hardly  too  much  to  say  that  it  is  the  most  splendid  architectural 
product  that  human  genius  and  skill  have  thus  far  wrought  in 
this  world. 


INDEX 


Abacus,  its  adjustment  to  the  load  imposed 
upon  it,  124-129  (cuts) ;  its  thickness 
proportioned  to  the  expansion  of  the 
bell,  313  (cuts)  ;  square  in  plan  until 
the  second  quarter  of  13th  cent.,  314, 
316 ;  becomes  polygonal  as  the  archivolt 
mouldings  become  polygonal  in  sec- 
tion, 314,  316,  317  ;  round  rarely  occurs, 
314;  early  forms  of  profiles,  315;  the 
profiles  vary  in  the  same  arcade,  315; 
profile  of  upper  member  becomes 
curved,  316  (cut) ;  adjusted  to  the 
character  of  the  ribs,  334. 
Of  the  cath.  of  Amiens,  140,  of  the  western- 
most bay,  141  (cuts),  nave,  314,  west 
front  and  triforium,  316  (cuts) ;  cath.  of 
Beauvais,  143 ;  cath.  of  Chartres,  nave, 
137;  ch.  of  St.  Evreniond  of  Creil,  315 
(cut)  ;  cath.  of  Laon,  triforium,  128 
(cut),  313  (cut);  ch.  of  Morienval,  51 
(cut),  315;  cath.  of  Paris,  choir,  124, 
(cut),  triforium  of  choir,  313,  nave, 
124-128  (cuts),  313,  314,  triforium  of 
nave,  312,  seventh  or  westernmost 
pier,  126-128  (cuts) ;  abbey  ch.  of 
St.-Germer-de-Fly,  apse,  75  (cut)  ; 
abbey  ch.  of  St.  Leu  d'Esserent,  nave, 
134;  cath.  of  Senlis,  315  (cut),  choir 
and  nave,  313;  cath.  of  Soissons,  128 
(cut). 
English,  generally  round,  338;  square 
in  the  local  style  of  Wells  and  Glaston- 
bury, 343;  all  its  mouldings  generally 
rounded  in  profile,  344  (cut)  ;  of 
Glastonbury  cath.,  344  (cut)  ;  Lincoln 
cath.,  west  transept  and  choir  screen, 
344  (cuts)  ;  Wells  cath.,  344  (cut). 
German,  355. 
Italian,  357. 
Spanish,  359. 
See  a/so  Capitals. 

Adamy,  Architcktonik  des  Mittelalters,  245  1. 

Aisles,  apsidal.     See  Apsidal  aisles. 

Aix-la-Chapelle,  church  of,  most  important 
survival  of  Carlovingian  epoch,  34; 
system  of  vaulting,  34  (cut). 

Amiens,  cathedral  of,  its  nave  the  crowning 
glory  of  Gothic  art,  138  (plate),  142, 
190  ;  date  of  construction,  138  ;  abacus, 
140,  of  the  westernmost  bay,  141  (cuts), 


nave,  314,  west  front  and  triforium, 
316  (cuts)  ;  apse,  165  (cut)  ;  apsidal 
chapels,  170;  bases,  322,  323  (cut); 
buttresses,  150  (cut),  215,  251 ;  capitals, 
140,  141  (cuts),  317  (cut),  396;  uniting 
of  clerestory  and  triforium  in  nave, 
160 ;  corbels,  sculpture  of,  369 1 ;  cornice, 
sculpture  of,  393 ;  fa9ade,  179  (plate)  ; 
hood  mouldings,  336;  mullions  and 
tracery,  336;  nave,  exterior  of,  189, 
length  of,  234,  height  of,  235  ;  parapet, 
188 ;  piers  and  vaulting  shafts  of  the 
nave,  140  (cut),  200;  rib  profiles,  333, 
334,  351 ;  sculpture  of  west  fa9ade,  24, 
377,  378,  of  triforium  string-course  and 
exterior  cornice,  393  (cut),  of  choir 
capital,  396;  string-course,  326,  of  the 
triforium,  393  (cut)  ;  transept,  172; 
triforium  of  the  nave,  160,  of  the  choir, 
253;  vaults  and  ribs  of  the  nave,  140, 
of  the  apse,  165  (cut)  ;  Virgin  of  south 
door  of  west  facade,  378. 

Angel  choir  of  Lincoln  cathedral,  208,  222- 
224,  426. 

Angle  spur  in  Gothic  bases,  321. 

Apertures.     See  Openings. 

Apses,  comparative  study  of,  in  French 
Gothic  buildings,  161-170  ;  semi- 
circular form  characteristic  of  French 
churches,  161 ;  first  great  Gothic  apse, 
74    (plate) ;    of  the   cath.   of  Amiens, 

165  (cut);  cath.  of  Auxerre,  163; 
of  cath.  of  Beauvais,  143,  253 ;  ch.  of 
Berzy-le-Sec,  68,  70,  161;  cath.  of 
Bourges,  163;  ch.of  St.  Yved,  Braisne, 
245;  cath.  of  Chartres,  164  (cut)  ;  cath. 
of  Noyon,  88,  89,  162  (cut),  164,  166; 
cath.  of  Paris,  163  (cut),  164;  cath.  of 
Reims,  170;  ch.  of  St.  Remi  of  Reims, 

166  (cuts);  cath.  of  Rouen,  163;  ch. 
of  St.-Germer-de-Fly,  74  (plate),  161 
(cut)  ;  ch.  of  St.  Leu  d'Esserent,  163, 
170  (cut);  cath.  of  Senlis,  94,  166; 
cath.  of  Sens,  163;  rare  in  England,  226. 

German,  256;  ch.  of  Heisterbach,  247,353, 
354;  cath.  of  Limburg,  243;  cath.  of 
Magdeburg,  240,  241 ;  ch.  of  St.  Eliza- 
beth of  Marburg,  249 ;  the  Liebfrauen- 
kirche  of  Trier,  248,  266. 

Italian,  280;  cath.  of  .■Vrezzo,  270;  ch.  of 


429 


43° 


INDEX 


St.  Francis  of  Assisi,  265,  266,  272;  ch. 
of  St.  Francis   of  Bologna,   267,  280; 
cath.   of    Florence,   280;    ch.    of    Sta. 
Croce  at  Florence,  271,  272. 
Spanish,  301 ;  cath.  of  Leon,  297. 
See  also  East  end. 

Apsidal  aisles,  earliest  extant  instance  of, 
35  ;  difficulties  in  vaulting,  62,  71,  84, 
167-170;  of  cath.  of  Le  Mans,  170; 
abbey  ch.  of  Morienval,  59-62  (cut)  ; 
cath.  of  Noyon,  94  (cut)  ;  cath.  of 
Paris,  168  (cut)  ;  ch.  of  St.  Denis,  82 
(cut) ,  84  (cut) ,  168  ;  ch.  of  St.  Louis  of 
Poissy,  84,  85 ;  ch.  of  St.  Maclou  of 
Pontoise,  81  (cut)  ;  ch.  of  St.-Germer- 
de-Fly,  70-73  (cuts)  ;  ch.  of  St.  Leu 
d'Esserent,  170  (cut)  ;  cath.  of  Senlis, 
94, 332 ;  cath.  of  Sens,  86,  87  (cuts) ;  rare 
in  Italian  pointed  architecture,  280;  of 
ch.  of  St.  Stephano  of  Verona,  35. 

Apsidal  chapels,  in  French  Gothic  build- 
ings, 170;  of  cath.  of  Amiens,  170; 
cath.  of  Beauvais,  170;  cath.  of  Noyon, 
94  (cut),  170;  ch.  of  St.  Maclou  of 
Pontoise,  81  (cut)  ;  cath.  of  Reims,  170; 
ch.  of  St.  Denis,  82  (cut),  159;  ch.  of 
St.-Germer-de-Fly,  73  (cut)  ;  ch.  of 
St.  Leu  d'Esserent,  170  (cut)  ;  Lincoln 
cath.,  201  (cut)  ;  cath.  of  Senlis,  94,  159, 
170,  332;  cath.  of  Soissons,  170. 

Arcades,  36;  in  the  Gothic  fagade,  173. 

Arch,  structural  principle  of,  6,  10;  mono- 
lithic, 6;  offset,  6. 
Pointed,  properties  of,  15 ;  obviates  diffi- 
culties in  vault  construction,  15,  17 
(cut)  ;  use  without  structural  signifi- 
cance in  ch.  of  St.  Front  in  Perigueux, 
42;  structural  exigencies  alone  led  to 
the  use  of,  60,  62 ;  early  use  of,  in 
abbey  ch.  of  Morienval,  59;  first  con- 
sistent use  of,  in  three  stories  of  a 
structure,  89 ;  an  important  character- 
istic of  Gothic  architecture,  136 ;  em- 
ployed for  the  most  part  without 
structural  significance  in  English  point- 
ed architecture,  211,  212;  lack  of 
structural   meaning   in  Italian  use  of, 

273. 
Arch  mouldings,  Gothic,  331 ;  broad  and 
effective,  352 ;  the  change  from  square 
to  polygonal  section  affects  the  char- 
acter of  the  capital,  316,  317 ;  of  cath. 
of  Paris,  ch.  of  St.  Germain-des-Pres, 
ch.  of  St.  Louis  of  Poissy,  cath.  of  St. 
Denis,  331  (cuts);  ch.  of  St.-Germer- 
de-Fly,  ch.  of  St.  Hildevei  t  of  Gournay, 
ch.  of  Taverny,  cath.  of  Laon,  332 
(cuts). 
English,  348-352;  multiplicity  of  mem- 
bers in  Anglo-Norman  work,  348 ; 
depressions    in,    349;    almost    always 


over-elaborated,  350;  hard  and  linear 
effect,  350 ;  resemblance  between  those 
of    Lincoln    cath.    and     Malmesbury 
abbey,    349 1;    of    Ely   cath.,    Norwich 
cath.,  Peterborough  cath.,  Romsey,  St. 
Albans,  Southwell, 348  (cuts)  ;  Malmes- 
bury abbey  (cut),  St.  Mary's  ch..  New 
Shoreham,  Salisbury  cath.,   349;   Lin- 
coln cath.,  349  (cut),  350. 
German,  355  ;  of  Cologne  cath.,  355  (cut). 
Italian,  358. 
Spanish,  359. 

Arches,  pier.     See  Pier  arches. 

Architectural  style,  secondary  differences 
of,  7. 

Architecture,  its  principles  primarily  con- 
structive, 6;  forms  apart  from  function 
not  significant,  6;  religious  architec- 
ture has  always  preceded  secular,  28, 
88 ;  secular  builders  begin  to  take  a 
leading  part  in,  87,  88 ;  general  condi- 
tions under  which  the  art  was  practised 
in  the  Middle  Ages,  398. 

Architecture,  transitional,  defined,  56. 

Archivolts,  unusual  adjustment  of  doubled 
orders  in  choir  triforium  of  cath.  of 
Senlis,  94. 

Arezzo,  cathedral  of,  date,  270 ;  apse  has 
somewhat  of  Gothic  character,  270; 
openings,  270,  278;  church  of  Sta, 
Maria  della  Pieve,  piers,  277. 

Aries,  church  of  St.  Trophime,  sculpture  of 
the  cloister,  366  (cut),  368. 

Arnolfo,  said  to  have  designed  ch.  of  Sta. 
Croce  at  Florence,  271;  architect  of 
cath.  of  Florence,  274,  275  1. 

Art  schools  of  the  Middle  Ages,  398. 

Assisi,  church  of  St.  Francis,  source  of  its 
architectural  style,  265  ;  has  little  Gothic 
character,  265,  283 ;  compared  with 
cath.  of  Arezzo,  270;  apse,  265,  266, 
272 ;  bases,  357 ;  buttresses,  266 ; 
fagade,  278  ;  string-course,  359  ;  vaults 
of  the  apse,  265,  272,  of  the  nave,  266; 
wall  paintings,  422. 

Athens,  wall  openings  in  a  small  church  in, 
155  (cut). 

Autun,  cathedral  of,  43  ;  sculpture  of  portal, 
364,  of  a  capital  of  the  nave,  385  (cut). 

Auvers,  church  of,  buttresses,  148 ;  fagade, 

173- 

Auxerre,  cathedral  of,  a]5se,  163. 

Avila,  church  of  San  Pedro,  fagade,  298. 
Church   of  San   Vincent,    capitals,   289; 
fagade,  299;  sculpture  of  portals,  413; 
towers,  299,  302 ;  transepts,  301 ;  vault- 
ing system,  289. 

Bamberg,  cathedral,  of  date,  238  ;  nave,  238 
-240  (cut)  ;  its  plan  retains  many 
RJienish-Romanesque    features,     240; 


INDEX 


431 


clerestory,    240;     piers    and    vaulting 
shafts,  239,  240;  ribs,  238;  vaults,  238, 

239- 
Bases,  Gothic  profiles  of,  317-324  ;  a  modi- 
fication of  the  Attic  base,  317;  how 
adapted  to  Gothic  construction,  318; 
composed  of  at  least  two  members,  319 ; 
first  innovation  on  the  classic  form 
of  bases  made  by  the  Byzantine  archi- 
tects, 319;  proportioned  to  the  size 
of  the  shaft,  321 ;  their  griffe  or  angle 
spur,  321 ;  the  plinth  diminished  in 
size,  322. 

Of  cath.  of  Amiens,  nave,  322  (cut),  323; 
cath.  of  Chartres,  choir,  322  (cut)  ;  cath. 
of  Paris,  choir,  320  (cut),  triforium  of 
nave,  321  (cut),  westernmost  piers,  322 
(cut),  324;  cath.  of  Reims,  321  (cut); 
ch.  of  St.  Sophia  of  Constantinople, 
33.  319  (cut) ;  cath.  of  Soissons,  322 
(cut). 

English,  344-347  ;  of  more  members  than 
the  French,  345 ;  plinth  generally 
round,  345 ;  absence  of  the  griffe, 
345 ;  of  Canterbury  cath.,  choir,  206 
(cut),  346;  Ely  cath.,  choir,  345  (cut)  ; 
Hexham,  choir,  345 ;  Lincoln  cath., 
207  (cut),  345  (cut);  the  Temple  ch., 
London,  345;  Wells  cath.,  346  (cut); 
Whitby  choir,  345  (cut). 

German,  modelled  from  early  French 
Gothic,  355;  often  poor  in  later  struc- 
tures, 355 ;  of  Bonn,  355;  of  Marburg, 
355- 

Italian,  357 ;  of  ch.  of  St.  Francis  of 
Assisi,  cath.  of  Florence,  chs.  of  Sta. 
Croce  and  Sta.  Maria  Novella  of 
Florence,  357. 

Spanish,  359;  of  cath.  of  Salamanca,  359. 
Baudot,  Eglises  de  Dourgs  et  Villages,  249I. 
Beauvais,  cathedral  of,  exaggerated  pro- 
portions, 142,  252 ;  abacus,  143 ;  apsidal 
chapels,  170;  parapet,  188;  piers  of 
the  choir,  142,  143  (cut),  of  the  apse, 
143 ;  ribs  and  vaults  of  the  aisle,  144 
(cut);  rib  profiles  of  the  choir,  334; 
triforium  of  the  choir  and  apse,  253. 

Church  of  St.  Etienne,  first  in  Northern 
Europe  to  carry  out  the  Lombard  idea 
in  vaulting,  52;  example  of  fullest 
development  of  Romanesque  archi- 
tecture, 57 ;  nave,  52,  104-106,  eastern- 
most bay  of,  106;  bases,  319  (cut); 
capitals,  113^;  rib  profiles,  330,  332; 
ribs,  52,  53,  104;  string-courses,  328; 
triforiuni  arcade,  105,  106;  vaults  of 
the  nave,  52,  104  (cut)  ;  aisles,  52,  53 
(cut). 
Bernay,  church  of,  45. 

Berzy-le-Sec,  church  of,  vaults  and  ribs  of  the 
apse,  68,  70,  161 ;  rib  profiles,  333. 


B6thesy  St.  Pierre,  church  of,  vaulting  of 
the  aisle,  55  (cut),  63. 

Beverley  minster,  general  system  lacks 
Gothic  character,  222 ;  capitals,  344 ; 
absence  of  sculpture,  408 ;  west  transept 
fagade,  228  ;   wheel  window,  228. 

Bocherville,  church  of  St.  George,  choir, 
46. 

Bologna,  church  of  St.  Francis,  date,  266, 
its  plan  essentially  Gothic,  267 ;  apse, 
267;  apsidal  aisle,  280;  buttresses, 
267  ;  fa9ade,  278  ;  piers,  266,  271 ;  tran- 
sept ends,  280;  vaulting  shafts,  266; 
vaults  and  ribs,  267. 
Church  of  San  Petronio,  structural  sys- 
tem, 276;  buttresses,  276;  openings,  278. 

Bonn,   cathedral   of,   bases,  355 ;    capitals, 

353- 

Bourges,  cathedral  of,  date,  118  ;  apse,  163; 
fa9ade,  179;  piers  and  vaulting  shafts, 
118,  265  ;  sculpture  of  portal,  370 1 ;  has 
no  transept,  171 ;  triforiuni  compared 
with  that  of  cath.  of  Burgos,  294. 

Braisne,  abbey  church  of  St.  Yved,  120, 
245;  apse,  245;  piers,  120,  121,  247 
(cut) ;  vau'ts,  246. 

Breslau,  Kreuzkirche,  nave  and  aisles  of 
equal  height,  249. 

Bridlington  abbey,  equilateral  arches,  217. 

Britton,  Architectural  Antiquities  of  Great 
Britain  and  Cathedral  Antiquities  of 
Great  Britain,  3. 

Burgos,  cathedral  of.  date,  293 ;  modelled 
after  the  French  Gothic,  293  ;  buttresses, 
294  (cut)  ;  capitals,  359,  414  ;  clerestory 
openings,  294,  298 ;  facade  resembles 
the  best  French  models  of  the  period, 
300;  piers,  293,  294,  296;  ribs  and 
vaulting  shafts,  293;  sculpture,  transept 
portal,  413;  choir,  414;  spire,  302; 
towers,  299,  302;  triforium,  294;  tran- 
sept ends,  301. 
Church  of  Las  Huelgas,  vaulting  system, 

291. 
Church    of    St.    Esteban,    sculpture    of 
portal,  414. 

Burgundian  sculpture.  See  Sculjiture,  Bur. 
gundian. 

Burgundy,  pointed  architecture  of,  260  ;  the 
I2th  cent,  buildings  not  strictly  Gothic, 
260;  early  examples  differ  litile  from 
Romanesque,  260;  one  type  character- 
ized by  sexpartite  vaulting,  261;  some 
features  derived  from  early  Gothic  of 
Ile-de-France,  263 1. 
Romanesque  architecture  of,  43,  44,  263!. 
See  Romanesque  architecture  of  Bur- 
gundy. 

Bury,  village  church  of,  early  systematic  use 
of  pointed  arch,  64;  vaulting  shafts,  99; 
vaults   of  the   aisle,  64    (cuts),  of  the 


43- 


INDEX 


nave,  67  (cut),  268;  rib  profiles,  330, 
333  (cut). 
Buttresses,  first  functionally  developed,  11  ; 
effect  of  the  introduction  of  the  pointed 
arch  on,  17 ;  general  character  in 
Gothic  buildings,  20;  triforium  vaults 
served  for,  in  earlier  buildings,  99; 
earliest  suggestion  of  Gothic,  33;  early 
use  of,  48,  49;  set-offs  of,  profiled 
like  string-courses,  327 ;   sculpture  on, 

369.  370- 

Flying,  rudimentary  forms,  13,  14 ;  be- 
come an  external  feature,  17,  89, 
loi ;  double  form  of,  112,  150  (cut); 
development  of,  144-152;  adjustment 
to  vault  pressures,  148 ;  first  attempt 
to  make  them  an  ornamental  feature, 
148  (cut)  ;  development  of  the  pinnacle, 
150-152;  the  perfect  Gothic  buttress 
system,    251. 

Of  the  cath.  of  Amiens,  150  (cut),  215, 
251;  ch.  of  Auvers,  148;  Abbayc-aux- 
Dames  at  Caen,  12,  13,  14  (cut) ; 
Abbaye-aux-Hommes  at  Caen,  12,  13, 
(cut),  174  (cut) ;  cath.  of  Cliartres 
150;  ch.  of  Gonesse,  148;  ch.  of 
St.  Martin  of  Laon,  144  (cut),  145; 
cath.  of  Meaux,  120  (cut),  150;  cath. 
of  N'oyon,  89,  nave,  148  (cut)  ;  cath. 
of  Paris,  112,  182;  ch.  of  St.-Ger- 
main-des-Pres,  Paris,  loi  (cut),  145, 
148;  cath.  of  Reims,  150  (cut),  151 
(cut)  ;  ch.  of  St.  Remi  of  Reims,  148  ; 
ch.  of  St.-Germer-de-Fly,  14I,  78,  79 
(cut),  144,  Sainte  Chapelle,  327  (cut); 
ch.  of  St.  Leu  d'  Esserent,  apse,  146 
(cut),  nave,  147  (cut);  cath.  of  Senlis, 
99,  178  (cut)  ;  cath.  of  Soissons,  apse 
and  choir,  149  (cut). 

English,  no  entirely  logical  and  well- 
adjusted  buttress  system,  226;  earliest 
instance  of  the  flyingf^  buttress,  200;  of 
Chichester  cath.,  200;  Lincoln  cath., 
choir,  205  (cut),  nave,  214  (cut),  215, 
presh)ytery,  223  (cut)  ;  ch.  of  St.  Mary, 
New  Shoreham,  209;  Rievaulx  abbey, 
210;  Salisbury  cath.,  218. 

German,  none  m  the  cath.  of  Bamberg, 
240;  of  the  decagon  of  St.  Gereon  of 
Cologne,  244;  cath.  of  Freiburg,  251 ; 
cath.  of  Limburg,  nave,  241,  243,  choir 
and  apse,  244;  Magdeburg  cath.,  nave, 
241 ;  ch.  of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul  at 
Neuweiler,  250. 

Italian,  ch.  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi,  266; 
ch.  of  St.  Francis  of  Bologna,  267; 
ch.  of  San  Galgano,  263. 

Roman,  11. 

Romanesque,  11  (cut),  12  (cut). 

Spanish,  cath.  of  Burgos,  294  (cut);  cath. 
of  Toledo,  296. 


Byland,  abbey  church,  Romanesque  in 
principle,  210;  equilateral  arches,  217; 
vaulting  shafts  not  functionally  devel- 
oped, 210. 

Byzantine  architecture,  first  important  in- 
novations in  vaulting  involving  struc- 
tural progress,  31 ;  further  development 
of,  32;  its  character  illustrated  in  the 
ch.  of  St.  Sophia  at  Constantinople,  32 ; 
domical  groined  vault  most  pregnant 
innovation  in,  32,  36  ;  features  anticipat- 
ing western  Romanesque  and  Gothic, 
33,  36,  309;  its  innovations  in  vaults 
and  capitals  made  Gothic  style  possible, 
309;  development  of  bases,  319,  of 
capitals,  304,  307  ;  vaults,  32  ;  openings, 
15s  (cut). 

Byzantine  art,  influence  upon  mediaeval 
sculpture  of  Southern  Gaul,  361,  362. 

Byzantine  illuminations,  exhibit  much  grace 
and  expression,  361  (cuts). 

Caen,  Abbaye-aux-Dames,  its  structure 
compared  with  Wells  cath.,  219  (cut), 
with  cath.  of  Pisa,  428 ;  buttresses,  12, 
13,  14  (cut)  ;  capitals,  sculpture  of, 
386  (cut)  ;  clerestory,  208  (cut)  ;  tri- 
forium, 219,  220  (cut) ;  coupled  vault- 
ing shafts,  290 1 ;  vaults,  12,  13,  14 
(cut),  46. 
Abbaye-aux-Hommes,  first  use  of  sexpar- 
tite  vault,  48,92;  bases,  319;  buttresses, 
12,  13  (cut),  174  (cut)  ;  fa9ade,  174 
(cut);  vaulting  shafts,  48  (cut)  ;  vaults, 
12,  13  (cut),  47,  48  (cut). 
Church  of  St.  Nicholas,  choir,  46. 

Cahier  and  Martin,  Melanges  d'Arche- 
olcgie,  383 1. 

Cambronne,  church  of,  nave,  68. 

Canestrelli,  L Abbazia  di  San  Galgano, 
263 1. 

Canterbury  cathedral,  its  choir  the  source 
of  the  Early  English  style,  196  (cut)  ; 
the  work  of  William  of  Sens  and  of 
English  William,  198;  its  influence 
traced  in  Lincoln  cath.,  201 ;  bases  of 
the  choir,  206  (cut),  346;  capitals,  206 
(cut)  ;  clerestory,  198,  208  ;  piers,  196, 
205-207  (cut);  ribs  and  vaults,  196; 
tower,  232;  triforium,  197;  vaulting 
shafts,  196  (cut),  207  (cut). 

Capitals,  Byzantine,  earliest  to  be  suitably 
adapted  to  arched  construction,  32,  33, 
304  (cut)  ;  great  influence  ol,  on 
Gothic  style,  309. 
Gothic,  primary  function  of,  304;  de- 
velopment into  a  more  spreading 
form,  308;  early  examples  of,  308; 
the  thickness  of  the  abacus  is  in  pro- 
portion to  the  expansion  of  the  bell, 
313  (cuts) ;  abacus  and  bell  sometimes 


INDEX 


433 


wrought  of  separate  stones  in  Roman- 
esque period,  in  Gotliic,  carved  out  of 
one  block,  313;  profiles  of,  314-317 
(cuts)  ;  Corinthian  alone  of  the  ancient 
orders  influenced  the  art  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  316 ;  capitals  of  the  last  part 
of  the  I2th  cent,  unequalled  by  those 
of  any  other  age  or  style,  316 ;  used 
ornamentally  as  in  tracery  of  large 
openings,  313;  profile  of  the  abacus, 
315,  of  the  bell,  316;  crockets,  316, 
317;  profiles  of  archivolt  and  vault 
ribs  determine  form  and  adjustment  of 
capitals,  334  ;  influence  of  nature  traced 
in  the  development  of  the  leafage,  385- 
389,  exemplified  in  the  triforium  of  the 
nave  of  Paris,  390;  naturalism  carried 
almost  too  far  in  the  chapel  of  the 
catechists,  391  (cut). 

Of  cath.  of  Amiens,  140,  141  (cuts)  314,, 
317  (cut) ;  cath.  of  Autun,  nave,  385 
(cut)  ;  ch.  of  San  Vincent  of  Avila, 
289;  Abbaye-aux-Dames  of  Caen,  386 
(cut)  ;  ch.  of  St.  Sophia  of  Constanti- 
nople, 32,  304  (cut),  308;  ch.  of  Sta. 
Maria  in  Cosmedin,  306  (cut),  313; 
ch.  of  St.  Evremond  of  Creil,  315  (cut) ; 
ch.  of  Jumifeges,  308  (cut)  ;  cath.  of 
Laon,  triforium,  313  (cut),  387,  392;  ch. 
of  St.  Ambrogio  of  Milan,  307 ;  abbey 
ch.  of  Morienval,  308,  313  (cut)  ;  cath. 
of  Noyon,  310  (cut),  choir,  386;  cath. 
of  Paris,  ground  story,  311,  313  (cut), 
314  (cut),  choir,  113  (cuts),  188I, 
nave,  115  (cuts),  triforium  of  choir, 
311  (cut),  of  nave,  312  (cut),  387,  388 
(cuts),  390,  chapel  of  the  catechists, 
391  (cut)  ;  ch.  of  St.-Germer-de-Fly, 
apsidal  aisle,  312  (cut)  ;  ch.  of  St.  Leu 
d'Esserent,  310,  392;  cath.  of  Senlis, 
92,  99,  308-311,  385  (cut),  of  the  choir 
and  nave,  313,  of  the  triforium,  387 
(cut)  ;  cath.  of  Soissons,  choir,  129 
(cut),  387;  ch.  of  Vezelay,  porch,  385. 

English,  338-344;  the  abacus  generally 
round,  338 ;  admirable  character  of 
many  of  the  earliest  English  capitals, 
338;  evidences  of  French  influence, 
339.  343;  crockets  become  heavy  and 
meaningless,  339,  343;  redundance  of 
ornament  in  the  later  forms,  342;  the 
local  style  of  Glastonbury  and  Wells, 
343 ;  the  moulded  form  without  foliate 
sculpture,  344  (cut)  ;  ijrofiling  of  abacus, 
344 ;  foliate  sculpture  of,  405 ;  arti- 
ficiality increases  after  the  first  quarter 
of  the  13th  cent.,  406  ;  of  Beverley  min- 
ster, 344;  Canterbury  cath.,  206  (cut)  ; 
Chichester  cath.,  200;  Lincoln  cath.,  tri- 
forium of  east  transept,  338  (cut),  choir, 
207  (cut),  338,  west  transept,  341  (cut), 
2  F 


north  choir  screen,  342,  343  (cut),  344 
(cut);  Salisbury  cath.,  344;  Southwell 
cath.,  344;  Wells  cath.,  transept  and 
east  end,  343  ;  Westminster  abbey,  344. 
German,  353-355  ;  persistence  of  Roman- 
esque forms,  353;  French  models  in- 
troduced, 353,  355;  English  influence 
in,  354;  distinctly  German  form  of, 
354;  abaci  poor,  355;  over-naturaiism 
and  lack  of  functional  character,  409 ; 
of  Bonn,  353;  ch.  of  St.  Gereon, 
Cologne,  353 ;  cath.  of  Freiburg,  355 ; 
ch.  of  Heisterbach,  353  (cut)  ;  of 
Magdeburg,  353  (cut);  Strasburg  cath., 
355 ;  Liebfrauenkirche  of  Trier,  246, 
354- 
Italian,  355-357;  little  regard  to  func- 
tional needs,  356;  of  cath.  of  Florence, 
not  true  capitals,  357  ;  ch.  of  Sta.  Croce, 
357;  ch.  of  Sta.  Maria  Novella,  356 
(cut). 
Roman,  306;  Byzantine  influence  on, 306. 
Spanish,   359;    of  cath.  of  Burgos,  359; 

cath.  of  Salamanca,  286,  359. 
See  also  hh2iC\xs\   Profiles;  Scul])ture. 

Carcassonne,  church  of  St.  Nazaire,  nave 
and  aisles  of  equal  height,  249. 

Carlovingian  epoch,  architecture  of,  ex- 
hibits few  innovations  on  established 
forms,  33,  34. 

Carter,  John,  The  Aticient  Architecture  of 
Etis^land  and  Collection  of  Ancient 
Buildings  in  England,  3 1. 

Casamari,  church  of,  west  front,  278. 

Cathedrals,  the  spirit  which  gave  rise  to 
them,  25;  organization  of  the  work- 
men, 398;  cath.  building  iii  France 
and  England,  424,  425. 

Cattaneo,  L'  Architettiira  in  Italia  dal 
Secolo  VI  al  Mi  lie  Circa,  33  L  34i,  35  ', 
36 1;  discussion  in  regard  to  intro- 
duction of  alternate  system  of  vaulting 
into  Normandy,  46'^. 

Caumont,  A.  de,  Ahecedaire  d' Archeolo- 
gie,  5  8 ;  Architecture  Religieuse,  6 1 ; 
his  misconception  of  Gothic  architec- 
ture, 6. 

Ch3.lons-sur-Marne,  church  of,  apse,  240. 

Chamant,  church,  spire  and  dormers,  183 
(cut),  184. 

Chambly  (Oise),  church,  fafade,  173. 

Chainpagne,  church,  fa9ade,  173  (cut). 

Champeaux  (Seine-et-Marne),  fagade,  173. 

Chapels,  apsidal.     See  Apsidal  chapels. 

Chapels,  transept.     See  Transept  chapels. 

Chapter-house  of  English  cathedrals,  235. 

Charles  Vlllof  France,  influence  of,  on 
architecture.  2. 

Chartres,  cathedral,  date  of  construction, 
134  1 ;  use  of  round  arch  in  clerestory, 
136;  apsidal  chapels,  170;  bases,  322; 


434 


INDEX 


buttresses,  150 ;  length  of  the  nave, 
234 ;  parapet,  188 ;  piers  and  vaulting 
shafts,  nave,  137;  porches,  transept, 
172 ;  portals,  transept,  172 ;  sculpture, 
360,  of  west  front,  367-369  (cut),  cen- 
tral portal,  382,  porches,  396;  spire, 
184  (cut);  stained  glass,  Jesse  window, 
419  (cut);  transept,  172;  vaults  and 
ribs  of  the  apse,  164  (cut,)  of  the  nave, 
135  (cut). 

Chatel-Censoir,  oblong  vault  construction, 
661. 

Chester  cathedral,  choir  not  true  Gothic, 
221. 

Chevet.     See  Apse. 

Chichester  cathedral,  mixed  character  of, 
200 ;  buttresses,  200 ;  capitals,  200 ; 
piers,  199  (cut),  200;  vaulting  shafts, 
199. 

Choisy,  U Art  de  Ratir  chez  les  Romauts, 
15I,  32;  L' Art  de  Batir  chez  les  Byzan- 
tins,  32. 

Christian  art  and  pagan  art,  difference  of 
motive,  380. 

Church  of  St.  Pierre,  137,  138  (cut) ;  piers 
of  the  nave,  137 ;  string-course,  326 
(cut),  328. 

Church  buildings,  the  centre  of  social  and 
communal  interest,  2. 
Sec  also  Cathedrals. 

Cistercian  architecture  of  Italy,  Burgundian 
types  reproduced  in,  260,  261 ;  fa9ades 
usually  conform  in  outline  with  the 
buildings  themselves,  278. 

Cistercian  order  of  monks  introduce  pointed 
architecture  of  Burgundy  into  Italy, 
260,  263. 

Classe,  church  of  St.  Apollonare  in,  pilaster 
strip,  33. 

Clerestory,  in  early  Gothic  buildings,  131 ; 
use  of  round  arch  in,  135  (cut),  136; 
result  of  the  enlargement  of  the  open- 
ings, 160;  in  two  planes  characteristic 
of  the  Early  English  style,  198,  208 
(cut)  ;  characteristic  Norman  type,  208  ; 
of  cath.  of  Amiens,  160;  Abbaye-aux- 
Dames,  208  (cut) ;  cath.  of  Chartres, 
135,  136  (cut);  cath.  of  N'oyon,  155; 
cath.  of  Paris,  131,  153  (cut),  158,  159; 
ch.  of  St.  Leu  d'Esserent,  131,  132 
(cut),  155  (cut) ;  ch.  of  Vezelay,  44. 
The  English  type  contrasted  with  the 
p'rench,  217;  of  Canterbury  cath.,  198, 
208  ;  Lichfield  cath.,  nave,  225  ;  Lincoln 
cath.,  choir,  208  (cut),  presbytery,  223 
(cuts)  ;  Salisbury  cath.,  216. 
German,  of  cath.  of  Bamberg,  240; 
Magdeburg  cath.,  241 ;  Strasburg  cath., 
252 ;    the    Liebfrauenkirche    of    Trier, 

245- 
Italian,  character   of  the   openings,   277, 


278  ;  of  cath.  of  Florence,  275,  277 ;  ch. 
of  Sta.  Maria  Novella,  Florence,  268, 
277 ;  cath.  of  Orvieto,  273 ;  cath.  of 
Siena,  277;  ch.  of  the  Frari  in  Venice, 
272. 
Spanish,  286,  298 ;  cath.  of  Burgos,  293, 
294;  cath.  of  Leon,  296,  298;  ch.  of 
Santa  Maria  de  Irache,  290;  cath.  of 
Toledo,  296. 

Clermont-Ferrand,  church  of  Notre  Dame 
du  Port,  43;  sculpture,  362. 

Cluny,  abbey,  church  of,  43. 

Cockerell,  Iconography  of  the  west  front 
of  Wells  Cathedral,  360^;  Monograph 
on  the  Sculpture  of  I  fells,  403I. 

Coifs,  Jean-Franfois,  La  Filiation  Gcnealo- 

'       <?""/''''  '^^  toutes  les  Ecoles  Gothiques,  52. 

Cologne,  cathedral,  choir  of,  date,  252; 
structural  system,  completely  Gothic, 
252,  not  German,  but  an  importation 
from  France,  253,  354 ;  Fergusson  on 
its  defects,  252I ;  German  in  its  orna- 
mental details,  354;  arch  mouldings, 
355;  capitals,  354  (cut),  409;  foliate 
sculpture,  409;  roof  of  the  aisle,  253; 
disappearance  of  wall  surfaces  in  tri- 
forium,  252,  253  ;  vaults,  252. 
Decagon  of  St.  Gereon,  date,  244;  struc- 
tural character  peculiar,  244;  buttresses, 
244 ;  capitals,  353  ;  openings,  244 ;  piers 
and  vaulting  shafts,  244 ;  vaults,  244. 
Church  of  St.  Kunibert,  248. 

Columns,  engaged,  in  Roman  buildings,  11. 

Columns.  See  Piers;  Vaulting  shafts; 
Capitals ;   Bases. 

Communes,  French,  influence  on  architec- 
tural works,  87. 

Constantinople,  church  of  St.  Sophia,  type 
of  earliest  Byzantine  development,  32  ; 
bases,  319  (cut)  ;  capitals,  33,  304 
(cut)  ;  piers,  32,  33,  90;  domical 
groined  vaults,  32. 

Convention  in  (jothic  sculpture,  24,  396. 

Corbeil,  church  of  Notre  Dame,  sculpture 
of,  369. 

Corbels,  sculpture  of,  369I;  of  cath.  of 
Amiens,  369I ;  ch.  of  St.-Germain-des- 
Pres,  Paris,  choir,  99 ;  ch.  of  St.-Ger- 
mer-de-Fly,  75  (cut),  99. 

Corbel-table,  36 ;  common  in  England,  348. 

Corrmgham  church,  235. 

Corroyer,  L' Architecture  Gothique,  31I; 
his  theory  deriving  Gothic  system  from 
Byzantine  dome  on  pendentives,  31^. 

Cosmedin,  church  of  Sta.  Maria  in,  capitals, 
306  (cut),  313. 

Creil,  church  of  St.  Evremond,  neglect 
and  abuse  of,  loi^;  abacus,  315  (cut)  ; 
triforium  archivolts,  94;  concealed 
flying  buttresses,  loi ;  piers,  loi ; 
string-course,  324   (cut). 


INDEX 


435 


Crockets,  of  Corinthianesque  capitals,  316 
(cut)  ;  become  simply  ornamental  fea- 
tures, 317 ;  finally  an  unmeaning  excres- 
cence, 317;  specially  beautiful  in  the 
triforium  of  Paris,  388  (cut) ;  of  English 
cathedrals,  339,  340,  343 ;  excessive 
projection  characteristic  of  English 
work,  343  (cut) . 
See  capitals. 

Ctesiphon,  ancient  use  of  arcades,  31. 

Cyma  recta,  in  Italian  architecture,  358. 

Dartiicn,  Etude  sur  l' Architecture  Lorn- 
bar  de,  36^. 
De  Ghihermy.  Itineraire  Archeologique  de 

Paris,  I53'-^. 
Dehio,  Die  Kircliliclie  Baukuiist  des  Abend-. 

landes,  240!  -,  242',  245'. 
De    L'  Orme,   stimulated  the    Renaissance 

movement  in  France,  2. 
Demaison,  Les  Architects  de  la  Catkidrale 

de  Reims,  157I. 
Dieulafov,  L' Art  Antique  de  la  Perse,  312, 

42l.' 
Dijon,  cathedral  of  Notre  Dame,  piers  and 

vaulting  shafts  of  the  nave,  119. 
Dion,  A.  de,  on  the  church  of  St.  Germer- 

de-Fly,  79'. 
Domes,  absence   of  Gothic   principles   in, 

32;  on  pendentives  in  Spanish  pointed 

buildings,  284  ;  of  cath.  of  .Salamanca, 

286-289. 
Domfront,  church  of  Xotre-Dame-sur-l'Eau, 

45- 
Doming  of  vaults,  17. 
Dormers,  gabled,   of  the  ch.  of  Chamant, 

spire,  183  (cut). 
Drip  mouldings,  Gothic,  325. 
Durham     cathedral,     equilateral     arches, 

217. 

E.AKI.Y  English  architecture.  See  English 
pointed  architecture. 

East    End     (of   churches),    French,    161; 
square  forms  are  numerous  in  smaller 
churches,  apsidal   most  characteristic, 
161 ;  of  I^on  cath.,  161. 
English,  226-228;  of  Ely  cath.,  227  (cut)  ; 
Lincoln   cath.,  227 ;    Worcester   cath., 
228. 
German,  follow  French  models,  256. 
Italian,  heavily  walled,  280;  square  form 
very    common,    280;     of    cii.    of    St. 
-Andrea  of  Vercelli,    Sta.    Maria    No- 
vella, cath.  of  Prato,  cath.  of  Orvieto, 
280. 
See  also  .Apse ;  apsidal  chapels ;  apsidal 
aisles. 

Ely  cathedral,  choir  not  true  Gothic,  221 ; 
arch  mouldings,  348 ;  base  profiles, 
345;    east  end,  227  (cut);    equilateral 


arches  of  presbytery,  217 ;  sculpture 
of  the  Prior's  gateway,  400. 

England,  the  conditions  for  the  growth  of 
art  less  favourable  than  in  France,  425  ; 
absence  of  the  commune,  425;  the 
cathedrals  originated  in  monastic  es- 
tablishments, 425 ;  influence  of,  on 
German  architecture,  354 ;  of  foreign 
rather  than  of  native  origin,  and  eccle- 
siastical rather  than  popular,  426; 
French  influence  on,  426;  the  English 
element  at  last  predominated  in  the 
perpendicular  style,  427. 

English  architecture,  in  the  time  of  Jones 
and  Wren,  3;  in  the  Middle  Ages 
it  was  Anglo-Norman  architecture,  201, 
221,  236,  426. 

English  glass,  423. 

English  perpendicular  architecture,  427. 

English  pointed  architecture,  191-236;  date 
of  transitional  movement,  191 ;  early 
use  of  pointed  vaulting  on  ribs  in 
Malmesbury  abbey,  191  (cut);  use 
of  the  pointed  arch  in  early  abbey 
churches  of  the  12th  cent.,  193,  195 ; 
its  Gothic  elements  begin  at  Canterbury, 
191,  196  (cut)  ;  triforium  usually  open 
to  the  aisle  roof,  192,  208;  masonry  of 
vaulting  in,  195  ;  some  of  its  character- 
istics illustrated  in  Chichester  cath., 
199;  Lincoln  cath.,  200-208  ;  the  ch.  of 
St.  Mary,  New  Shoreham,  208;  chs.  of 
Byland  and  Whitby,  210;  Ripon  cath., 
210;  Gothic  vaulting  was  substantially 
perfected  in  France  before  the  choir 
of  Lincoln  cath.  was  begun,  203;  su- 
perfluous ribs  general  in  English  pointed 
buildings,  203,  212;  compared  with 
contemporary  French  work,  209,  211; 
instances  of  vaulting  shafts  being  used 
as  decorative  features  only,  210,  223 ; 
early  monuments  show  lack  of  unity 
and  consistency  of  inventive  purpose, 
211;  its  character  in  the  first  part  of 
the  13th  cent.,  211-222;  iikislrated  by 
the  nave  of  Lincoln  cath.,  212-215,  of 
Salisbury,  215-218,  of  Wells  cath., 
218-221,  and  of  other  buildings,  221 ; 
employs  the  pointed  arch,  but  in  most 
cases  without  genuine  structural  sig- 
nificance, 211,  use  of  hood  mouldings, 
214;  clerestory  still  willed  in,  216. 
pier  arches  frequently  equilateral,  but 
the  Anglo-Norman  type  lancet,  217; 
character  of  the  openings,  217,  226; 
still  essentially  a  Norman  product.  221 ; 
inferior  to  Gothic  of  France  in  archi- 
tectural nobility,  but  has  often  a  pecul- 
iar beauty  and  expression,  221';  its 
character  in  the  later  13th  cent.,  222- 
225,    illustrated    by   the    presbytery   of 


436 


INDEX 


Lincoln,  222;  by  the  nave  of  Lich- 
field, 224;  lack  of  structural  and  ar- 
tistic propriety,  224;  the  piers  and 
buttresses  never  structurally  complete 
and  functional,  226;  east  ends  gener- 
erally  square,  226;  transept  fagades, 
228 ;  western  fa9ade,  228-232,  as  a 
rule,  is  devoid  of  Gothic  character, 
231 ;  towers,  232 ;  general  provision 
for  a  tower  at  crossing  of  nave  and 
transept,  232;  spires  rare  in  the  early 
period,  233;  general  plan  and  propor- 
tion of  churches,  234;  use  of  two  tran- 
septs common,  234 ;  great  length  and 
proportionate  lowness,  234 ;  vaulted 
polygonal  chapter-houses,  235 ;  absence 
of  vaulting  in  the  smaller  village 
churches,  235 ;  substantially  only  an 
ornamental  modification  of  Norman 
Romanesque,  236 ;  profiles  of  mould- 
ings, 338,  352;  capitals,  338-344,  of 
the  abacus  of,  344 ;  bases,  344-347 ; 
string-courses,  347,  348;  arch  mould- 
ings and  vault  ribs,  348-352;  compared 
with  French  Gothic  as  to  mouldings  of 
various  kinds,  351,  352. 
Sec  also  Sculpture,  English. 

English  profiles.     See  Profiles,  English. 

English  sculpture.     See  Sculpture,  English. 

English  writers  on  Gothic  Architecture,  3. 

Enlart,  C,  Notes  sur  les  Sculptures  execiitees 
apr'es  la  pose  du  XJ^  au  XI J !^  Steele, 
661 ;  Villard  de  Hounecouit  et  les  Cister- 
ciens,  129I;  Origines  Frangaises  de 
I  'Architecture  Gothique  en  Italic,  260^, 
26i'3,  262^  264-;  Les  Origines  de 
r Architecture  Gothique  en  Espagne 
et  en  Portugal,  299I. 

Eu  (Seine-Inferieure)  church,  fa9ade,  173. 

Expression  in  art,  usually  superior  in  the 
early  masters  of  a  school,  371;  the 
chief  motive  of  Gotliic  sculpture,  379. 

Exterior,  of  Gothic  churches,  187-189;  the 
general  proportions  criticised,  187  ;  ex- 
amples of,  the  abbey  ch.  of  St.  Leu 
d'Esserent  and  cath.  of  Reims,  188, 
189  (plates). 
English,  general  character  of,  226,  352; 
of  chapter-houses,  235. 

Facades,  Gothic,  constructive  principles 
least  manifest  in,  172;  analysis  and 
development  of,  172-182 ;  largely  a 
modification  of  Romanesque  forms, 
178 ;  the  chief  field  for  the  display  of 
sculpture,  374 ;  of  cath.  of  Amiens, 
179  (plate),  sculpture  of  south  portal, 
377.  378;  cath.  of  Bourges,  179; 
Abbaye-aux-Hommes  at  Caen,  174 
(cut)  ;  ch.  of  Champagne,  173  (cut)  ; 
cath.  of  Chartres,  367-369  (cut),  382; 


cath.   of  Paris,  178    (plate) ;    cath.  of 
Reims,    180 ;    ch.   of   St.   Denis,    175 ; 
cath.  of  Senlis,  176  (cut),  177. 
English,  228-232;  few  early  ones  remain, 
229;    have    little   approach   to   Gothic 
character,  231 ;    of  Lincoln   cath.,  229 
(plate);      Peterborough      cath.,      231; 
Ripon  cath.,   231;     St.  Albans  .Abbey, 
232;  Salisbury  cath.,  230;  Selby  Abbey, 
232  ;  Wells  cath.,  230. 
German,  254 ;  of  Limburg  cath.,  254  ;  the 
Lorenzkirche  of  Nuremberg,  254;   ch. 
of  St.  Elizabeth  of  Marburg,  255;  cath. 
of  Strasburg,  256. 
Italian,   278-280;    ch.  of  St.  Francis   of 
Assisi,  278;    ch.  of  St.  Francis  of  Bo- 
logna, 278  ;  ch.  of  Fassanova,  264 ;  ch. 
of  Sta.  Maria  della  Spina  at  Pisa,  279; 
cath.  of  Siena,  279. 
Spanish,   298;  of  ch.  of  San  Vincent  of 
Avila,  299  ;  cath.  of  Burgos,  299  ;  cath. 
of  Leon,  300 ;  cath.  of  Toledo,  300. 
See  also  Transept  facade. 

Falaise,  church  of  St.  Gervais,  45. 

Fan  vaulting,  the  first  step  toward,  212,  213. 

Fassanova,  church  of,  shows  Burgundian 
influence,  262 ;  opening,  west  front,  278  ; 
vaults,  264. 

Fergusson,  History  of  Architecture  in  All 
Countries,  130I,  252I,  264I. 

Flamboyant  Gothic  style  of  France,  some- 
thing analogous  to  it  in  vaulting  shafts 
and  ribs  of  cath.  of  Florence,  275. 

Flavian  amphitheatre  at  Rome.    See  Rome. 

Flaxman,  Lectures  on  Sculpture,  360. 

Fleury,  Georges  Rohault  de,  Les  Monu- 
ments de  Pise,  280^. 

Florence,  cathedral  of,  Arnolfo's  original  de- 
sign, 274;  enormous  height  of  ground- 
story  arcade,  274  ;  want  of  true  capitals 
or  bases  to  the  piers,  274  (cut),  357; 
contains  little  of  Gothic  character,  276; 
apse,  280;  bases,  357I;  buttresses,  275; 
campanile,  281,412;  dome,  275;  open- 
ings, 277,  of  the  campanile,  278,  281 ;  rib 
profiles,  358  ;  sculpture  of  the  campanile, 
411,  of  the  door  jambs,  412,  of  the 
baptistery  gates,  413 ;  string-course, 
359;  tower,  280;  sameness  of  section 
and  magnitude  of  vaulting  shafts  and 
ribs,  274,  275  ;  vaulting  shafts  all  spring 
from  the  same  level,  274;  vaults,  274. 
Badia,  tower,  280. 

Church  of  Sta.  Croce,  aisle  roofs,  271 ; 
apse,  271;  bases,  357;  buttresses,  268 
(cut)  ;  capitals,  357  ;  fafade,  279;  open- 
ings, 271,  272  ;  piers,  271;  rib  profiles, 
358;  vault  of  the  apse,  271,  272. 
Church  of  Sta.  Maria  Novella,  date,  267; 
great  height  of  ground-story  arcade, 
268    (cut)  ;   bases,    357 ;    capitals,   356, 


IN'DEX 


437 


357    (cut)  ;    clerestory    openings,   268, 
277  ;  tower,  280  (cut) ;  transept  facade, 
280 ;  vaults,  267,  268. 
Church  of  Or,  San  Michele,  openings,  278. 

Flying  buttresses.     See  Buttresses,  flying. 

Form,  plastic  rendering  of,  brought  to  per- 
fection, 381. 

Forster,  Monuments  d' Architecture,  etc., 
237^  245I. 

Fountains  Abbey,  vaults  and  piers  of  the 
aisle,  194  (cut)  ;  of  the  nave,  194. 

France,  artificial  state  of  society  at  close  of 
15th  cent.,  2;  conditions  under  which 
architecture  was  practised,  398,  425; 
the  Communes,  425;  Abbot  Haymon 
on  the  popular  enthusiasm,  426. 

Freeman  on  the  duration  of  French  influ- 
ence in  England,  427 ;  on  the  perpen- 
dicular style,  4272. 

Freiburg,  cathedral  of,  date,  251 ;  imperfect 
Gothic  character  of,  251 ;  buttresses, 
251;  capitals,  355;  tower  and  spire, 
258  ;  vaults  not  true  Gothic,  251. 

French  architecture,  58-190 ;  great  activity 
of,  in  the  12th  cent.,  189;  of  the  Renais- 
sance, 2. 

French  Gothic  architecture.  See  Gothic, 
French. 

French  sculpture.  See  Sculpture,  Gothic, 
in  France. 

French  writers  on  Gothic  architecture,  5. 

Frescos.     See  Painting. 

Gable,  of  a  Gothic  nave  not  the  true  roof, 
173 ;  ornamental  use  of,  179 ;  of  cath. 
of  Amiens,  facade,  179  (plate)  ;  cath. 
of  Reims,  fagade,  180. 

Gargoyle,  early  use  of,  189'. 

Gelnhausen,  cathedral,  towers,  256,  257; 
spires,  257. 

German  pointed  architecture,  237-259;  a 
later  development  than  in  France  and 
England,  237;  its  imperfect  progress 
illustrated  by  the  caths.  of  Bamberg, 
238;  Magdeburg,  240;  Limburg,  241; 
the  Liebfrauenkirche  of  Trier,  245;  ch. 
of  St.  Elizabeth  of  Marburg,  248;  ch. 
of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul  at  Neuweiler, 
250;  cath.  of  Freiburg,  251 ;  Strasburg 
cath.,  252 :  Gothic  system  imitated 
without  a  full  understanding  of  its  prin- 
ciples, 241 ;  chs.  with  all  three  aisles 
the  same  height,  249 ;  the  French  Gothic 
slow  in  affecting  German  Romanesque 
251,427;  French  features  ingrafted  on 
German  Romanesque  without  chang- 
ing its  structural  character,  251;  chs. 
with  many  Gothic  features  but  an 
imperfect  Gothic  structural  system,  250, 
251;  no  native  Gothic  development, 
253 ;    meaningless  structural  modifica- 


tions and  details  introduced,  253  ;  char- 
acter of  the  facade,  254;  east  ends, 
256 ;  transept  facades,  256  ;  towers,  257 ; 
typical  spire  of,  258  ;  spires  in  Roman- 
esque chs.,  257  ;  arch  mouldings,  355  ; 
bases,  355  ;  capitals,  353-355  ;  influence 
of  English  architecture  on,  354. 

German  profiles.     See  Profiles,  German. 

German  Renaissance  architecture,  3. 
See    also    Romanesque    architecture    of 
Rhenish  Germany ;  Sculpture,  German. 

German  sculpture.    See  Sculpture,  German, 

Ghiberti,  the  gates  of  the  baptistery  of 
Florence,  413. 

Giotto,  379;  sculptures  of  the  campanile 
of  Florence,  412. 

Gisors,  church  of,  122  (cut). 

Glass,  stained.     See  Stained  glass. 

Glastonbury  Abbey,  abacus,  344 ;  beak 
moulding,  347  ;  St.  Joseph's  chapel  con- 
tains remains  of  Gothic  vaulting,  210. 

Gloucester,  cathedral,  tower,  232. 

Gonesse  (Seine-et-Oise),  church  of,  piers 
and  vaulting  shafts  of  easternmost  bay 
of  the  choir,  119;  apse,  early  flying 
buttresses  still  extant,  148. 

Gonse,  Louis,  L'Art  Gothique,  64I. 

Gothic  art,  rudeness  not  characteristic  of, 
21 ;  a  product  of  the  fusion  of  Northern 
and  Southern  blood,  21 ;  has  much  in 
common  with  classic  art,  22 ;  outgrowth 
of  an  impulse  derived  from  the  social 
improvements  of  the    nth  cent.,    189. 

Gothic,  French,  architecture,  incorrect  ideas 
concerning,  i ;  the  term  applied  in  a 
spirit  of  contempt,  i ;  Italian  distaste 
for,  I ;  an  outgrowth  and  expression  of 
Northern  genius,  2;  decline  of,  2;  in 
England  and  Germany,  3 ;  revival  of, 
in  the  i8th  cent.,  3;  in  England,  3;  its 
essential  principles  not  understood,  3 ; 
English  writers  on,  3;  Coifs  on,  5; 
French  writers  on,  5  ;  Viollet-le-Duc  on, 
7,  8  ;  differs  fundamentally  from  arched 
Roman  and  Romanesque,  7;  definition 
of,  7;  a  system  of  balanced  thrusts,  8; 
earliest  steps  toward,  8 ;  in  Lombardy, 
9;  Romanesque  elements  retained  in, 
9 ;  the  steps  of  the  transition  from 
Romanesque,  10;  summary  of  general 
form  and  constructive  features,  18 ; 
plan,  18  (cut);  vaults  and  ribs,  19; 
piers,  19;  walls,  20;  buttresses,  20,  33; 
full  development  only  brought  out  by 
three-aisled  buildings,  20;  the  builders 
not  governed  by  mathematical  formu- 
las of  proportion,  21 ;  sculpture  and 
painting  employed  in,  22;  decline  after 
the  early  part  of  the  13th  cent.,  25; 
early  advance  made  by  the  monastic 
builders,  26;  fuller  development  at  the 


438 


INDEX 


hands  of  lay  builders,  27 ;  an  archi- 
tecture of  churches  only,  27 ;  close 
connection  with  the  thought  and  feeling 
of  the  time,  28 ;  immediately  evolved 
out  of  the  Romanesque  of  northern 
France,  29 ;  features  anticipated  in 
early  Byzantine  architecture,  33  ;  limits 
within  which  it  is  confined,  58;  scanti- 
ness of  written  records,  58  ;  first  step  in 
final  transformation  from  Romanesque 
into  Gothic  illustrated  in  the  apse 
of  ch.  of  Morienval,  62;  development 
primarily  structural,  79 ;  developed  first 
in  the  interior,  later  in  the  exterior  of 
the  building,  79,  97,  98,  166  (cuts) ; 
irregularities  of,  produce  forms  of  added 
charm,  84;  influence  of  communes  on, 
87 ;  height  of  perfection  in  masonry 
reached,  96;  choir  and  east  end  gen- 
erally built  first,  loi ;  its  principles 
illustrated  in  the  various  members  of 
the  structure,  the  vaults  and  their  sup- 
ports, no,  piers,  123,  buttresses,  144, 
pinnacles,  150,  openings,  153,  apses, 
161,  apsidal  aisles,  166,  transepts,  171, 
facades,  172,  spires,  182;  forms  estab- 
lished by  remodellings  as  well  as  by 
new  constructions,  106 ;  its  real  begin- 
nings are  best  traced  in  the  smaller 
extant  monuments,  no;  minor  differ- 
ences in  early  structures  united  with  a 
substantial  unity  of  purpose,  122;  mixed 
forms  of  art  produced,  123;  concen- 
tration of  vault  thrusts  an  essential 
feature  of,  132  (cut) ;  the  pointed  arch 
and  the  peculiar  manner  of  adjusting 
the  structural  arches,  form  important 
characteristics  of,  136 ;  the  use  of  the 
round  arch,  136 ;  logic  of  Gothic  design, 
141,  143  ;  the  folly  of  exaggerating  pro- 
portions, 142,  252;  general  internal  as- 
pect, 187,  external,  187-189  (plates)  ; 
buildings  consist  of  vaulting  sustained 
by  piers  and  buttresses,  187 ;  general 
prevalence  of  the  church-building  im- 
pulse, 189;  Gothic  a  spontaneous  and 
national  movement,  190;  union  of 
structural  and  artistic  principles  in,  190; 
successive  steps  of  its  development, 
190 ;  dates  of  rise  and  greatest  perfec- 
tion, 190 ;  compared  with  contemporary 
English  pointed  architecture,  209,  211; 
Gothic  vaulting  was  substantially  per- 
fected in  France  before  the  choir  of 
Lincoln  cathedral  was  begun,  203; 
functional  members  are  all  neces- 
sary to  full  development  of  Gothic 
character,  251 ;  perfect  buttress  system, 
251 ;  isolated  Gothic  features  in  Italian 
pointed  architecture,  272,  277 ;  towers, 
281;  coupled  vaulting  shafts,  290;  fur- 


nish models  for  Spanish  pointed  archi- 
tecture of  the  13th  cent.,  293 ;  made 
possible  by  innovations  in  Byzantine 
architecture,  309 ;  its  principles  further 
studied  in  capitals,  304,  bases,  317, 
string-courses,  327,  rib  profiles,  330, 
mullions  and  tracery,  335  ;  relative  size 
of  load  and  support  in  imposts,  312; 
abacus  and  bell  of  capital  carved  out 
of  one  block,  313  ;  its  distinctive  char- 
acteristics not  arbitrary  inventions,  but 
based  on  principles,  424;  the  system 
complete,  progressive,  and  original  in 
France  alone,  424, 428  ;  the  most  splen- 
did architectural  product  thus  far 
wrought  in  the  world,  428 ;  the  condi- 
tion of  France  and  the  character  of  the 
French  favourable  to  its  development, 
424,  425 ;  the  conditions  less  favourable 
in  England,  425-427 ;  conditions  in 
Germany  also  unfavourable,  427 ;  no 
original  development  in  Italy  or  Spain, 
428. 
In  England.  See  English  pointed  archi- 
tecture. 
In  Germany.  See  German  pointed  archi- 
tecture. 
In  Italy.  See  Italian  pointed  architec- 
ture. 
In  Spain.  See  Spanish  pointed  architec- 
ture. 

Gothic  painting.  See  Painting  in  Gothic 
buildings. 

Gothic  sculpture,  vitality  of,  22 ;  compared 
with  Greek  sculpture,  23,  375,  376 ;  its 
elements  to  be  traced  back  to  antiquity, 
23,  384;  conventional  character,  24; 
traditional  principles  of  ornamentation 
retained,  24;  organic  life  of,  governed 
by  architectural  fitness,  24,  383,  397. 
See  also  Sculpture,  Gothic,  in  France. 

Gournay,  St.  Hildevert  of,  church  of,  103; 
south  aisle  of  choir,  103^;  piers,  103, 
104  (cut)  ;  rib  profiles,  332. 

Greek  art,  Gothic  art  has  much  in  common 
with,  22;  influence  on  Gothic  sculpture 
through  Byzantine  illuminations  and 
carvings  in  ivory,  361,  362. 

Greek  genius  in  later  architectural  forms, 
306. 

Greek  sculpture.     See  Sculpture,  Greek. 

Griffe,  or  angle  spur,  in  early  Gothic  bases, 
321,  322;  of  ch.  of  St.  Ambrogio  of 
Milan,  cath.  of  Paris,  ch.  of  St.  Louis 
of  Poissy,  cath.  of  Reims,  321  (cuts). 

Grotesque,  its  place  in  Gothic  sculpture, 
381;  its  truth  to  nature,  383;  restraint 
in  early  work,  383  ;  in  English  sculpture, 
407. 

Guilhermy,  F.  de,  Itineraire  Archiologique 
de  Paris,  37 1 1. 


INDEX 


439 


Haymon,  Abbot,  on  the  popular  enthusi- 
asm for  church  building  in  France,  426. 

Heiiigenstadt,  towers  of,  257. 

Heisterbach,  church  of,  east  end,  date,  247; 
construction  shows  persistence  of  Ro- 
manesque principles,  247;  capitals  of 
the  apse,  353  (cut),  354. 

Heronville,  church,  facade,  173. 

Hexham  Abbey,  bases  of  choir  triforium, 
345  (cut). 

Hood  moulding,  rarely  used  in  Gothic 
architecture  before  the  13th  cent.,  336  ; 
used  externally  it  has  the  function  of  a 
dripstone,  internally,  is  purely  orna- 
mental, 336;  of  clerestory  of  Amiens, 
336  (cut)  ;  apse  of  cath.  of  Reims,  336 
(cut) ;  ch.  of  St.  Germer-de-Fly,  choir 
and  apse,  336,  St.  Chapelle,  336  (cut)  ; 
Lincoln  cathedral,  nave,  214. 

Hugh,  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  201,  202. 

Ile-DE-Fkance,  prevalence  of  the  church- 
building  impulse  in  the  12th  cent.,  189; 
school  of  sculpture,  365  ;  development 
of  foliate  sculpture,  385. 
See  Romanesque  architecture,  Ile-de- 
France. 

Illuminated  manuscripts,  Byzantine,  361 
(cut). 
French,  of  12th  and  13th  cents.,  furnish 
illustrations  of  the  art  of  painting,  415; 
conventional  and  archaic,  416;  back- 
grounds flat,  no  perspective,  416;  the 
life  of  St.  Denis  in  the  national  library 
of  Paris,  416  (cut). 

Italian  architecture  founded  on  Greek  and 
Roman  types,  I,  428 ;  the  Romanesque 
of  Italy  not  a  structurally  progressive 
style,  428. 

Italian  painting.     See  Painting,  Italian. 

Italian  pointed  architecture,  260-283  ;  basili- 
can  forms  dominant  until  the  close  of 
the  i2th  cent.,  260;  introduced  by  Cis- 
tercians from  Burgundy  in  the  13th 
cent.,  260,  263;  reproduction  of  types 
of  Burgundian  pointed  architecture  in, 
261,262,  263;  early  churches  showing 
direct  foreign  influence,  264-267 ;  sex- 
partite  vaulting  rarely  used,  266;  the 
distinctively  Italian  type  of,  267;  vault- 
ing compartments  of  the  nave  usually 
square,  267;  vault  ribs  ail  spring  from 
the  same  level,  267,  268;  uniform  sys- 
tem of  supports,  268  ;  enormous  height 
of  ground-story  arcade,  268,  274  ; 
tracery  in,  270,  278  ;  use  of  a  corbelled 
gallery,  271,  273,  275;  isolated  Gothic 
features,  272,  277;  general  lack  of  real 
Gothic  principles,  272,  273,  280,  283 ; 
no  .idea  of  the  structural  use  of  the 
pointed  arch,  273  ;  buttresses  generally 


a  pilaster  strip,  or  carried  on  walls  over 
the  aisles,  275;  use  of  iron  tie-rods, 
275;  triforium  rarely  found  in,  276;  the 
pointed  arch  in  Southern  Italy  and 
Sicily  has  no  relation  to  vaulting,  277 ; 
character  of  external  openings,  277, 
278;  fafades,  278-280;  east  ends,  280; 
apsidal  aisles  rare  in,  280;  lack  of  a 
logical  constructive  sense,  280,  281 ; 
transept  ends,  280;  towers,  280-282; 
crowned  by  octagonal  lanterns,  282; 
the  true  Gothic  spire  was  never  con- 
structed in  Italy,  282;  pinnacles  having 
no  logical  meaning,  282,  283 ;  decline 
of,  after  the  14th  cent.,  283. 

Jones,    Inigo,   his    taste    for    the   pseudo- 
classic  orders,  3. 
Jumieges,  church  of,  capitals,  308  (cut). 

King,  Handbook  to  the  Cathedrals  of  Eng- 
land, 21 12. 

Kirkstall  Abbey,  aisle  vaults,  195  ;  masonry 
of  vaulting,  195;  equilateral  arches,  217. 

Kraft,  Adam,  sculpture  of,  409. 

Laon,  cathedral,  capitals  of  the  triforium, 

313  (cut),  392;  east  end,  161 ;  piers  and 
vaulting  shafts,  117  (cut),  of  the  two 
westernmost  bays  of  the  choir,  117, 
of  the  nave,  128  (cut)  ;  rib  profiles, 
332;    sculpture,   capitals  of   triforium, 

314  (cut),  387,  392;   transept,  171,  172. 
Church  of  St.  Martin,  buttress,  144  (cut), 

145- 

Leafage  in  Gothic  sculpture,  383. 

Le  Clerc,  Discours  sur  I'Etat  des  Beaux- 
Arts,  187I. 

Leffevre-Pontalis,  Eug.,  L' Architecture  Re- 
ligieuse  dans  I ' Ancien  Diocese  de  Sois- 
sons,  46'^,  59I ;  Etude  sur  la  date  de 
I ' Eglise  de  Saint-  Germer,  64'^  ;  Etude 
sur  le  Ch(xur  de  I 'Eglise  de  Saint 
Alartin-des-Chanips  a  Paris,  70- ;  dis- 
cussion on  the  introduction  of  alternate 
system  of  vaulting  into  Normandy,  46- ; 
on  groin  arches  of  early  Gothic  vaults, 
65I ;  on  vaults  of  the  ch.  of  Bury,  68^ ; 
on  ch.  of  St.  Germer-de-Fly,  date,  71I, 
102I;  Gothic  features,  79I;  on  date 
of  cath.  of  Senlis,  87I. 

Lenoir,  Architecture  Monastique,  27'. 

Leon,  cathedral  modelled  after  the  French 
Gothic,  293,  296 ;  lighter  in  structure 
than  most  Gothic  buildings  on  Spanish 
soil,  296  ;  apse  has  only  five  sides,  297  ; 
buttresses,  297 ;  clerestory  openings, 
296,  298 ;  facade,  300 ;  sculpture  of 
west  portal,  414;  spire,  302;  towers, 
302;  transept  ends,  301;  vaulting  sys- 
tem, 296. 


440 


INDEX 


L6rida,  cathedral,  290,  292I. 

Lescot,  stimulated  the  Renaissance  move- 
ment in  France,  2. 

Lichfield  cathedral,  nave  of,  224,  225 ;  apse, 
226;  clerestory,  225;  sculpture  of  west 
front,  404 ;  vaulting  shafts,  225 ;  vaults 
and  ribs,  224,  225. 

Liebfrauenkirche  of  Trier,  the.     See  Trier. 

Lier?ics,  in  Lincoln  cathedral,  213  (cut)  ;  in 
cath.  of  Toledo,  294. 

Limburg  on  the  Lahn,  cathedral,  date,  241 ; 
interior  largely  Gothic  in  character,  241 
(cut),  244;  likeness  to  the  cath.  of  No- 
yon,  242,  243 ;  Romanesque  character 
of  the  exterior,  241,  244,  254,  of  the 
aisles,  243  ;  apse,  243  ;  bases,  355  ;  but- 
tresses, 245,  of  the  nave,  241,  243;  of 
the  choir  and  apse,  244;  capitals,  353; 
fafade,  254 ;  piers,  243 ;  ribs  of  the 
nave,  242,  of  the  choir  and  apse,  244; 
triforium  gallery,  243;  vaulting  shafts, 
243 ;  vaults,  242-244. 

Lincoln  cathedral,  the  choir  and  east  tran- 
sept, 200-208 ;  character  and  source 
of  its  style,  201 ;  Parker's  theory  that 
the  choir  is  purely  English  work,  un- 
tenable, 200I ;  original  eastern  termina- 
tion apsidal,  201  (cut)  ;  influenced  by 
Canteibury  cath.,  201,  202,  205;  the 
choir  shows  a  good  deal  of  Gothic 
character,  205 ;  abaci  of  west  transept 
and  choir  screen,  344  (cuts)  ;  arch 
mouldings,  Norman  influence  shown 
in,  349,  resemblance  of,  to  those  of 
Malmesbury  abbey,  349,  those  of  the 
choir  and  presbytery  compared,  350; 
bases  of  the  choir,  207  (cut),  345;  but- 
tresses, compared  with  those  of  cath. 
of  Amiens,  215,  of  the  choir,  205  (cut), 
of  the  nave,  214  (cut),  of  the  presby- 
tery, 223  (cut);  capitals,  338-343  (cuts), 
of  the  choir,  207  (cut),  338,  405,  tri- 
forium of  east  transept,  338,  405,  west 
transept,  341,  north  choir  screen,  342, 
343  (cut),  344;  chapter-house,  235; 
height  of  choir,  235 ;  clerestory,  of  the 
choir,  208  (cut),  of  the  presbytery, 
223  (cuts) ;  east  end,  227 ;  fafade,  229 
(plate)  ;  Hemes,  213  (cut)  ;  nave,  212- 
215,  date  of  construction,  212;  open- 
ing in  west  transept  (Dean's  Eye),  228  ; 
piers,  of  the  choir,  204,  at  transept 
crossing,  205-208  (cuts),  of  the  nave, 
213  (cut),  of  the  presbytery,  223;  por- 
tals, 229;  presbytery,  or  angel  choir, 
222-224  (cut),  date  of  construction, 
222,  substantially  a  Norman  structure, 
426,  not  an  appropriate  termination 
for  the  design,  208 ;  ribs  of  the  aisles, 
214,  of  the  choir,  203,  of  the  nave, 
212,  213  (cuts),  of  the  presbytery,  222 


(cut)  ;  rib  profiles  of  the  presbytery, 
222  (cut),  351  (cut),  of  the  choir,  351 
(cut)  ;  sculpture  of  west  front,  400  (cut), 
of  the  angel  choir,  403,  of  the  choir 
buttresses,  403,  capitals  of  Bishop 
Hugh's  choir  and  transept,  405  (cut), 
those  of  the  nave  inferior,  406  (cut); 
string-course  profiles,  347  (cut)  ;  tierce- 
rons  of  the  nave,  212  (cut),  of  the 
presbytery,  222 ;  tower,  232  (cut) ;  tran- 
septs not  true  Gothic,  221 ;  transept 
ends,  228 ;  triforium,  208 ;  vaulting 
shafts,  of  the  aisles,  214,  of  the  choir, 
204,  at  transept  crossing,  205-208  (cut), 
of  the  nave,  213,  of  the  presbytery, 
222,  223 ;  vaults  of  the  aisles,  214,  of 
the  choir,  202-204  (cuts),  of  the  nave, 
212,  213  (cuts),  of  the  presbytery,  222, 
of  the  east  transept,  204I. 
Church  of  St.  Mary  le  Wigford,  235. 
Lisieux,  church  of,  piers,  122 ;  rib  profiles, 

351- 

Lombard  architecture,  rise  of,  34,  46^;  the 
existing  buildings  not  wrought  by  the 
Lombards,  9,  34 ;  a  source  of  inspira- 
tion to  subsequent  Romanesque  build- 
ers, 9 ;  alternate  system  of  vaulting, 
16I,  38  ;  new  architectural  features,  34, 
36,  37 ;  its  character  illustrated  by  the 
ch.  of  San  Michele  of  Pavia  and  the 
cli.  of  St.  Ambrogio  of  Milan,  36 ;  use 
of  domical  groined  vaults,  36;  decline 
of,  40;  the  influence  of  its  alternate 
system  of  vaulting  on  Norman  architec- 
ture, 462 ;  piers,  37,  38;  development 
of  capitals,  307  ;  sculpture,  410. 

London,  Temple  Church,  base  profiles  of 
the  choir,  345. 
Westminster  Abbey.     See  Westminster 
Abbey. 

Longpont,  abbey  church  of,  string-course, 
328. 

Louis  XIV  of  France,  architecture  under,  2. 

Lucca  cathedral,  triforium,  vaulting  system, 
276. 

Magdeburg,  cathedral,  date,  240;  Gothic 
influence  apparent  throughout  interior, 
240;  apse,  240,  241 ;  capitals  have  some- 
thing of  Corinthianesque  form,  353 
(cut) ;  clerestory,  241 ;  buttresses  of 
the  nave,  241;  vaulting  system,  240. 

Mainz,  cathedral,  40;  date,  238;  vaults, 
238. 

Malmesbury  abbey,  compared  with  the  ch. 
of  St.  Denis  and  other  French  build- 
ings, 192;  its  construction  not  a  link  in 
a  chain  of  progress,  192;  arch-mould- 
ings, 349  (cut)  ;  ribs  and  vaults  of  the 
aisle,  191  (cut)  ;  vaulting  shafts,  191 
(cut)  ;  triforium,  192. 


iMdex 


441 


Mans,  Le,  cathedral,  vaulting  of  apsidal 
aisle,  34, 170 ;  sculpture  of  south  portal, 

369- 

Mantes,  church  of,  piers  and  vaulting  shafts, 
116  (cut). 

Mantua,  church  of  St.  Andrea,  tower,  282. 

Marburg,  church  of  St.  Elizabeth,  248  ;  nave 
and  aisles  of  equal  height,  249  (cut)  ; 
divided  into  two  stories  by  openings 
only,  250;  apse,  249;  bases,  355  ;  capi- 
tals, 354 ;  fa9ade  has  a  distinctly  Gothic 
form,  255  ;  ill  adjustment  of  the  spires, 
257  (cut). 

Masonry,  height  of  perfection  in  Gothic, 
reached,  96;  of  English  and  B'rench 
vaults  compared,  195;  courses  in 
vaulting,  iii,  130;  of  cath.  of  Sala- 
manca, 285. 

Meaux,  cathedral,  vaulting  system,  120 
(cut) ;  buttresses,  120  (cut),  150. 

Mediaeval  legends  and  literature  a  source 
of  inspiration  to  the  cathedral  builders, 
28. 

Merzario,  Giuseppe,  /  Maestri  Comacini,  92. 

Milan,  cathedral,  a  travesty  of  Gothic,  283. 
Church  of  St.  Ambrogio,  peculiar  features, 
9I ;  structural  character,  39;  compared 
with  cath.  of  Siena,  273 ;  use  of  the 
griffe,  321;  bases,  319;  capitals,  307; 
piers,  37  (cut),  38;  ribs,  37;  vaults, 
36-38. 
Church  of  San  Vincenzo  in  Prato,  Ro- 
manesque features  in,  36. 

Moissac,  sculpture  of  portal,  362  (cut),  363. 

Monastic  orders,  their  energy  in  building, 
26;  their  schools  for  training  in  arts 
and  sciences,  26;  introduce  improve- 
ments in  construction,  27;  limits  to  the 
development  of  architecture  in  their 
hands,  27;  introduced  the  pointed  style 
into  Italy,  260. 

Mondjelia,  basilica,  monolithic  arches,  6. 

Montalembert,  Les  Moines  d' Occident,  orj. 

Montier-en-der,  church  of,  apse,  240. 

Montreal,  church  of,  near  Avallon,  retains 
much  of  Romanesque,  261 ;  vaults  not 
true  Gothic,  261. 

Morienval,  abbey  church,  first  step  in  final 
transformation  of  Romanesque  into 
Gothic,  59, 190 ;  early  use  of  the  pointed 
arch,  59  ;  capitals,  308,  313  (cut)  ;  piers, 
50  (cut)  ;  rib  profiles,  330,  332  (cuts); 
string-courses,  325  (cut)  ;  towers,  182 
(cut),  302;  vaults,  of  the  aisles,  50,53 
(cut),  of  the  apsidal  aisle,  59  (cut), 
60-62  (cut). 

Mortet.  v.,  Etude  Historique  et  Archeolo- 
gique  sur  la  Catliedrale  et  le  Palais 
Episcopal  de  Paris,  91,  113-. 

Mouldings,  hood.     Sec  Hood  mouldings. 

Mouldings,  profiles  of  Gothic.    See  Profiles. 


Arch.     See  Arch  mouldings. 

Base.     See  Bases. 

Hood.     See  Hood  mouldings. 

Of  mullions.     See  Mullions. 

Rib.     Sec  Ribs. 

String.     See  String-courses. 
Miihlhausen,  ch.  of  St.  Mary  at,  nave  and 

aisles  of  equal  height,  249. 
Mullions,  Gothic,  oldest  and  finest  forms 
are  simple,  335;  functions  of,  335;  in 
the  declining  Gothic,  336;  of  cath.  of 
Amiens,  336  (cut)  ;  cath.  of  Reims,  ap- 
sidal openings,  335  (cut)  ;  ch.  of  St. 
Germer-de-Fly,  Sainte  Chapelle,  336 
(cut)  ;  ch,  of  St.  Leu  d'Esserent,  335 
(cut). 

English,  352. 

German,  355. 


X 


N 


N 


AKHCHE-ROUSTEM,  altars  of,  early  use 
of  arch  sprung  from  columns,  31. 

ature,  influence  of,  on  Gothic  foliate  capi- 
tals, 386-392;  tendency  to  over-natu- 
ralism, 391 ;  direct  imitation  of,  marks 
the  decline  of  Gothic  sculpture,  395 ; 
why  it  is  not  allowable,  396. 

aves,  generally  constructed  later  than  the 
choir  and  east  ends,  loi ;  of  English 
and  French  cathedrals  compared  as  to 
length  and  height,  168. 

esles,  church  of,  fa9ade,  173. 

etley,  abbey,  equilateral  arches,  217.  ' 

euweiler,  church  of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul, 
marked  advance  of  Gothic  principles 
in,  250;  vaults  and  buttresses,  250. 

evers,  cathedral,  sculpture  of  capitals,  396. 

ew  Shoreham,  church  of  St.  Mary,  date 
of  construction,  208;  arch  mouldings, 
349;  buttresses,  209;  piers  and  vault- 
ing shafts,  nave,  209. 

iches  for  sculpture  not  employed  in  early 
Gothic,  370. 

imes.  Baths  of  Diana  at,  41. 

oel-St. -Martin,  church  of,  neglect  and 
abuse  of,  loi- ;  early  use  of  longitudinal 
rib,  63. 

ogent-les-Vierges,  church  of,  string- 
courses, 324  (cut). 

orman  architecture  persisted  in  Elngland 
after  Gothic  had  developed  in  France, 
195;  its  influence  on  the  early  English 
architecture,  201 ;  great  length  of  the 
churches,   234;    use  of  round  abacus, 

314^- 

See  Romanesque  architecture  in  Nor- 
mandy. 

orman  conquest,  influence  of,  on  English 
architecture,  427. 

orthants,  Ringsiead  church,  spire.  233. 

orton,  C.  E.,  Church  Building  in  the  Mid- 
dle Ages,  273!. 


442 


INDEX 


Norwich  cathedral,  arch  mouldings,  348; 
length  of  the  nave,  234. 

Notre  Dame  du  Port  at  Clermont-Fer- 
rand, church  of.  See  Clermont-Fer- 
rand. 

.Notre-Dame-en-Vaux,  church  of,  vaulting 
of  apsidal  aisle,  34. 

Noyers,  Geoffrey  de,  architect  of  Lincoln 
cathedral,  201. 

Noyon,  cathedral,  date  of,  87 ;  communal 
influence  upon,  87,  88 ;  advance  of 
Gothic  principles  in,  190;  arches  of 
the  choir,  88,  89,  of  the  apse,  89;  but- 
tresses, 89,  148  (cut)  ;  capitals,  310 
(cut),  of  the  choir,  386;  openings,  155; 
painting  in  the  transept,  415 ;  parapet, 
i882;  piers  of  the  choir  and  apse,  89, 
90,  of  the  nave,  107 ;  rib  profiles  of 
the  choir,  333 ;  sculpture  of  capitals 
of  the  choir,  386,  of  string-course,  395 ; 
transept,  171,  172;  triforium  gallery, 
89,  107;  vaulting  shafts  of  the  nave, 
107 ;  vaults  and  ribs  of  the  apse,  162, 
of  the  apsidal  chapels,  94  (cut),  of  the 
nave,  106. 

Nuremberg,  Lorenzkirche,  fa9ade,  254; 
spires,  257. 

Offset  arch,  6. 

Openings,  general  character  in  Gothic 
buildings,  20;  early  character  of,  77 
(plate),  153,  155;  development  of,  153- 
160,  166 ;  compound,  155 ;  constructive 
exigencies  cause  of  change  of  form  in, 
156;  English  compared  with  French, 
217,  226;  gabled  dormers  in  spires, 
183;  wheel  windows  farther  developed 
in  France  than  in  England,  228;  of  ch. 
of  Qalb-Louzeh,  155  (cut) ;  Byzantine 
church  in  Athens,  155  (cut)  ;  cath.  of 
Noyon,  155 ;  cath.  of  Paris,  153,  154 
(cut),  157-159;  ch.  of  St.-Germain- 
des-Pres,  166 ;  cath.  of  Reims,  apsidal 
chapels,  157  (cut),  160;  ch.  of  St. 
Denis,  apsidal  chapels,  83,  159 ;  ch.  of 
St.  Germer-de-Fly,  apsidal  chapel,  74, 
triforium  gallery,  77  (cut),  155;  ch.  of 
St.  Leu  d'Esserent,  nave,  155  (cut) ; 
ch.  of  St.  Louis  of  Poissy,  106I;  cath. 
of  Senlis,  apsidal  chapels,  94,  159;  cath. 
of  Soissons,  166. 

English,  remain  merely  windows  in  walls, 
217;  compared  with  the  French,  217; 
of  Lincoln  cath.,  west  transept.  Dean's 
Eye,  228 ;  of  York  cath.,  228. 

German,  of  the  ch.  of  St.  Gereon  of 
Cologne,  244;  ch.  of  St.  Elizabeth  of 
Marburg,  250. 

Italian,  277,  278;  of  small  dimensions, 
277  ;  of  the  apse  of  the  cath.  of  Arezzo, 
270,  271 ;  ch.  of  Fassanova,  278. 


Spanish,  of  cath.  of  Burgos,  294,  298;  cath. 
of  Leon,   296,    298 ;    cath.   of  Toledo, 
296,  298. 
See  also  Clerestory;  Mullions;  Tracery. 
Orbais,  abbey  church  of,  openings,  157I. 
Ornamental   design,  ancient   principles  of, 

23- 
Or  San    Michele   of  Florence,  church   of. 

See  Florence. 
Orvieto,  cathedral  of,  lack  of  structural  use 

of  the  pointed  arch,  273;  fa9ade,  279; 

east  end,  280,  282  ;  opening  with  tracery, 

278;  pinnacles,  282;  sculptured  reliefs, 

411,  412. 

Pagan  and  Christian  art  compared  as  to 
motive,  380. 

Painting,  in  Gothic  buildings,  415-419;  its 
limitations,  22;  colouring  of  sculpture, 
399;  less  general  than  in  other  build- 
ings, 415;  absence  of  uninjured  ex- 
amples, its  character  must  be  deter- 
mined from  illuminated  manuscripts, 
415  ;  conventional  and  decorative,  415- 
417 ;  made  little  progress  in  connection 
with  Gothic  architecture,  417 ;  its  place 
supplied  by  stained  glass,  417 ;  in  other 
countries  essentially  the  same  in  char- 
acter during  12th  and  13th  cents., 
421. 
Italian,  421-423  ;  advanced  pictorial  con- 
ception and  treatment  early  manifested, 
421 ;  the  wall  painting  of  the  ch.  of 
St.  Francis  of  Assisi,  422;  the  monu- 
mental purpose  of  art  constantly  before 
the  mind  of  the  painter,  422 ;  decora- 
tion his  main  object,  but  pictorial  de- 
sign always  united  with  it,  422 ;  Viollet- 
le-Duc  on  the  supposed  antagonism 
between   pictorial   and   decorative  art, 

423^- 

Parapet,  evolution  and  development  of, 
188,  189I;  of  caths.  of  Amiens,  Beau- 
vais,  Chartres,  Paris,  Reims,  Soissons, 
188;  cath.  of  Noyon,  i882. 

Parapeted  gallery  in  Spanish  and  Italian 
churches,  297. 

Paray-le-Monial,  church  of,  43. 

Paris,  cathedral  of,  Gothic  principles  first 
systematically  carried  out  in,  no;  the 
old  work  still  intact  to  a  great  degree, 
no;  repairs  and  changes  in  the  13th 
cent.,  154;  advance  of  Gothic  princi- 
ples in,  190;  choir,  date  of  construction, 
113;  length  of  nave,  234;  abacus,  choir, 
124,  311  (cut),  313  (cut),  nave,  124- 
128  (cuts),  312  (cut),  313,  314,  north 
triforium,  315  (cuts);  apse,  163  (cut), 
164 ;  apsidal  aisles,  168  (cut) ;  arch 
mouldings,  331 ;  bases  of  the  choir, 
320  (cut),  321,  nave,  324,  westernmost 


INDEX 


443 


piers  of  the  nave,  322  (cut),  triforium 
of  nave,  321  (cut)  ;  buttresses,  112.  182; 
capitals,  influence  of  nature  in  sculp- 
ture of,  386,  of  choir,  113,  188,  of 
triforium  of  choir,  311  (cut),  313,  of 
nave,  115,  128  (cut),  313,  of  triforium 
of  nave,  312  (cut),  313,  387,  388  (cuts), 
390,  sixth  pier  of  nave,  125  (cuts),  128 
(cut),  seventh  or  westernmost  pier, 
126  (cuts),  127  (cut),  the  chapel  of 
the  catechists,  391  (cut)  ;  clerestory, 
131,  153  (cut),  157,  159,  tracery  in, 
153  (cut),  158,  159;  crockets,  sculpture 
of,  388  (cuts)  ;  facade,  178  (plate),  182; 
glass, 420 ;  openings,  153, 154  (cut),  157- 
159;  parapet,  188;  piers,  intended  for 
quadripartite  vaults,  112,  of  the  choir, 
113,  114  (cuts),  of  the  nave,  115  (cuts), 
116,  sixth  pier  of  the  nave,  125  (cuts), 
128  (cut),  seventh  or  westernmost  pier, 
126  (cuts),  127  (cut),  130,200,  205,  322; 
portals,  370,  375-378  (cuts),  412;  rib 
profiles,  332,  334;  sculpture  of  the 
buttresses,  369,  370,  of  the  transept 
facades,  370,  south  door  of  west  front, 
370,  west  facade,  375,  376,  383  (cut), 
portal  of  the  Virgin,  370,  375  (cut), 
378,  412,  central  portal,  376,  portal  of 
south  transept,  377,  portal  of  north 
transept,  378  (cut),  402,  of  grotesque 
figure  in  hood  moulding,  383  (cut), 
capitals,  386,  of  the  triforium,  312 
(cut),  387,  388  (cuts),  390,  of  the 
chapel  of  the  catechists,  391  (cut), 
running  leaf  ornaments  of  the  western 
fagade,  393  (cuts),  of  the  Port  Rouge, 
396;  string-course  of  cornice,  326  (cut), 
of  triforium,  329;  tracery,  153  (cut), 
158,  159;  transept,  171,  172;  vaulting 
shafts  of  the  choir,  113,  114  (cuts),  311, 
of  the  nave,  115  (cuts),  116;  vaults  of 
the  nave  and  choir,  no,  in,  apse,  163 
(cut),  apsidal  aisles,  168  (cut)  ;  Virgin 
of  north  transept  portal,  378  (cut). 

Sainte  Chapelle,  20;  painting  in,  415; 
stained  glass  of,  420. 

Church  of  St.  Denis,  origin  of  Gothic 
erroneously  traced  to,  58 ;  advance  of 
Gothic  principles  in,  190;  date,  8r; 
apsidal  aisle  and  chapels,  81  (cut),  83, 
84  (cut),  855,  159,  168,  332;  arch 
mouldings,  331 ;  fagade,  175  ;  openings, 
83i  159 ;  piers  of  the  nave,  142 ;  rib 
profiles,  332;  sculpture,  360,  of  north 
transept,  366,  367  (cut),  of  tympanums 
of  the  west  portal,  371 ;  stained  glass, 
419.  420;  triforium  archivolts,  94;  vaults 
and  ribs  of  the  apsidal  aisle  and  chapels, 
81  (cut),  83,  84  (cut),  855.  168,  of  the 
nave,  142. 

Church   of    St.-Germain-des-Pres,    date. 


99 ;  Gothic  in  exterior,  101 ;  arches, 
100,  loi ;  arch  mouldings,  331 ;  but- 
tresses, loi  (cut),  145,  148;  openings, 
166 ;  piers,  ribs,  and  vaulting  shafts, 
99,  100. 
Church  of  St.-Martin-des-Champs,  bases, 
320  (cut)  ;  primitive  groined  vault  of 
choir,  69;  early  structural  use  of  ribs 
in  apsidal  vault,  70  (cut)  ;  rib  profiles, 
330. 

Parker,  J.  H.,  Introduction  to  the  Study  of 
Gothic  Architecture,  200I ;  date  of  tran- 
sitional movement  in  England,  191;  on 
the  choir  of  Lincoln  cath.,  204I ;  date 
of  Ringstead  church,  233I ;  the  sculp- 
ture of  Wells  cath.,  402I. 

Parma,  Baptistery,  sculpture,  410. 

Pavia,  church  of  S.  Michele,  source  of 
architectural  style,  9I ;  groined  vaults, 
36 ;  compared  with  cath.  of  Siena,  273. 

Perigueux,  church  of  St.  Front,  illustrates  a 
sporadic  type  of  Romanesque  archi- 
tecture, 42 ;  use  of  the  pointed  arch, 
42 ;  dome,  287. 

Perpendicular  style,  English,  212;  decadent 
character  of,  427. 

Persian  architecture,  early  use  of  the  arch 
sprung  from  columns  in  the  altars  of 
Nakhche-Roustem,  31;  use  of  blind 
shafted  arcades  at  Ctesiphon,  31. 

Peterborough  cathedral,  aisle  vaults  of 
primitive  Norman  form,  211  (cut) ;  arch 
mouldings,  348  ;  fa9ade,  231;  sculpture, 
404. 

Piacenza,  cathedral  of,  use  of  sexpartite 
vaults,  266. 

Pier  arches,  generally  equilateral  in  France 
and  frequently  in  England,  217 ;  the 
Anglo-Norman  type  lancet,  217.  See 
also  Piers. 

Piers,  general  character  in  Gothic  struc- 
tures, 19;  earliest  form  of  compound 
pier,  37  (cut)  ;  alternate  arrangement, 
38,  uniform,  64,  268  ;  use  of  single 
round  columns,  89,  92,  99,  123,  rein- 
forced by  engaged  shafts,  126,  by 
detached  shafts,  128  (cuts)  ;  those  of 
English  pointed  architecture  and  Gothic 
compared,  199;  the  load  smaller  than 
that  of  the  supporting  shaft,  312;  of 
cath.  of  Amiens,  140,  199,  200 ;  cath. 
of  Beauvais,  choir,  142,  143  (cut),  apse, 
143;  cath.  of  Bourges,  118,  265;  ch.  of 
St.  Vved  of  Braisne,  120,  121,  246  (cut)  ; 
ch.  of  St.  Sophia,  32,  33,  90;  cath. 
of  Chartres,  nave,  137  ;  ch.  of  St.  Pierre, 
137  ;  ch.  of  St.  Evremond,  easternmost 
bay,  loil ;  ch.  of  Notre  Dame  of  Dijon, 
119;  ch.  of  Gonesse,  119;  cath.  of 
Laon,  117  (cut),  128  (cut)  ;  ch.  of 
Mantes,  116;  abbey  ch.  of  Morienval, 


444 


INDEX 


50  (cut)  ;  cath.  of  Noyon,  choir  and 
apse,  89,  90,  nave,  107 ;  cath.  of  Paris, 
112,  choir,  113,  114  (cuts),  nave,  115 
(cuts),  116,  sixth  pier  of  the  nave,  125 
(cuts),  128  (cut),  seventh  or  western- 
most pier,  126  (cuts),  127  (cut),  130, 
200,  205,  322;  ch.  of  St.  Denis,  142; 
ch.  of  St.-Germain-des-Pres,  choir, 
99,  100;  abbey  ch.  of  Pontigny,  261; 
ch.  of  St.  Germer-de-FIy,  apsidal  aisle, 
72  (cut),  73  (cut),  apse,  74  (cut),  75 
(cut),  choir,  99,  nave,  102;  ch.  of  St. 
Hildevert  of  Gournay,  103,  104  (cut)  ; 
ch.  of  St.  Leu  d'Esserent,  134 ;  cath.  of 
Senlis,  choir,  91,  92,  310,  311;  cath. 
of  Sens,  apsidal  aisles,  86,  87  (cut), 
nave,  119;  cath.  of  Soissons,  128  (cut)  ; 
abbey  ch.  of  Vezelay,  261. 

English,  226;  of  Canterbury  cath.,  196, 
205-207  (cut)  ;  of  Chichester  cath.,  199 
(cut),  200;  of  Fountains  abbey,  194 
(cut) ;  Lincoln  cath.,  choir,  204-208 
(cuts),  nave,  213  (cut),  presbytery,  223  ; 
of  ch.  of  St.  Mary,  New  Shoreham, 
nave,  209;  of  Ripon  cath.,  choir,  210, 
transept,  211;  of  Rievaulx  abbey,  210; 
Salisbury  cath.,  218 ;  Wells  cath.,  218. 

Of  cath.  of  Bamberg,  239;  ch.  of  St. 
Gereon  of  Cologne,  244 ;  cath.  of  Lim- 
burg,  243 ;  cath.  of  Magdeburg,  240 ; 
cath.  of  Speyer,  238 ;  of  Liebfrauen- 
kirche  of  Trier,  246  (cut). 

Of  ch.  of  Sta.  Maria  della  Pieve  in  Arezzo, 
277;  of  cath.  of  Florence,  274;  ch.  of 
S.  Ambrogio  of  Milan,  37  (cut),  38; 
ch.  of  San  Galgano,  263 ;  ch.  of  St. 
Andrea  of  Vercelli,  265. 

Of  ch.  of  San  Vincent  of  Avila,  289 ;  cath. 
of  Burgos,  293,  294 ;  cath.  of  Salamanca, 
286  ;  cath.  of  Toledo,  295. 

See  also  Vaults  ;  Ribs  ;  Vaulting  shafts. 
Pilaster  strip,  in  Romanesque  buildings,  11 
(cut),  12,36;  forms  earliest  suggestion 
of  Gothic  buttress,  33. 
Pinnacle  on  buttresses,  evolution  of,  150;  of 
the  cath.  of  Amiens,  151  (cut),  nave 
buttress  next  the  transept,  15 ii,  fa9ade, 
179  (plate)  ;  cath.  of  Reims,  apse,  151 
(cut),  fa9ade,  180. 

Of  Italian  churches,  282,  283  ;  ch.  of  Sta. 
Maria  della  Spina,  283 ;  ch.  of  S.  Fermo 
of  Verona,  283. 
Pisa,  the  sculptors  of,  411,  412. 

Cathedral,  26;  in  construction  like  a 
Christian  Roman  basilica  of  the  earliest 
times,  428 ;  compared  with  ch.  of  Ab- 
baye-aux-Dames  of  Caen,  428;  sculp- 
ture, pulpit  of  the  baptistery,  411,  412. 

Church  of  Sta.  Maria  della  Spina,  contra- 
diction in  form  of  facade  and  building, 
279,  283  ;  pinnacles,  283  ;  sculpture,  410. 


Pisano,    Andrea,   sculptures    of   the   cam* 
panile  of  Florence,  412. 
Giovanni,    272 ;     sculptures    at    Orvieto, 

412. 
N'iccola,  379,  411,  412;  sculptures  of  the 
pulpit  in  the  baptistery  of  Pisa,  411. 

Plan,  general,  of  a  Gothic  church,  18 ;  of 
English  churches,  234. 

Plinths.     See  Bases. 

Pointed  architecture,  not  necessarily  a  dis- 
tinct style,  7. 
French.    See  Gothic  architecture,  French. 
English,  German,  Italian,  Spanish.     See 
English,      German,     Italian,     Spanish 
pointed  architecture. 

Poissy,  church  of  St.  Louis,  character  and 
date,  55I,  85 ;  vaulting  compared  with 
ch.  of  St.  Denis,  85 ;  arch  mouldings, 
331 ;  bases,  85,  321 ;  capitals,  85  ;  open- 
ings, 106I ;  piers  of  the  nave,  55 ; 
ribs  of  the  nave,  55,  of  apsidal  aisles, 
85;  rib  profiles,  330;  vaults  of  the  nave, 
55,  of  apsidal  aisles,  85. 

Poitiers,  cathedral  of,  its  aisles  but  little 
lower  than  the  nave,  249  (cut). 

Pontigny,  abbey  church  of,  retains  much  of 
Romanesque  character,  261 ;  compared 
with  ch.  of  San  Galgano  to  show  the 
Burgundian  source  of  its  Cistercian 
architecture,  263 ;  buttresses,  261 ;  vault- 
ing system,  261 ;  great  width  of  piers, 
261. 

Pontoise,  church  of  St.  Maclou  of,  date,  81 ; 
vaults  and  ribs  of  apsidal  aisle  and 
chapel,  81  (cut);  use  of  straight  diago- 
nal ribs,  81. 

Pont-sur-Yonne,  church  of,  sexpartite  vault- 
ing, 261,  piers,  268. 

Porches,  of  cath.  of  Amiens,  facade,  179 
(plate);  cath.  of  Bourges,  179;  cath. 
of  Chartres,  transept,  172;  cath.  of 
Prato,  272. 

Portals,  sculpture  of,  370-373,  375 ;  divided 
by  central  pillars,  377I ;  of  the  transept, 
172 ;    of  cath.  of  Chartres,  172 ;    cath. 
of  Le   Mans,  369;    ch.  of  St.  Denis, 
371 ;    cath.   of  Reims,   381 ;    cath.   of 
Senlis,  177. 
English,  generally  small,  230;  of  Lincoln 
cath.,    229;     Ripon    cath.,   231;    Wells 
cath.,  230. 
Italian,  cath.  of  Prato,  272. 
Spanish,    ch.   of  San    Vincent   of  Avila, 
299 ;  cath.  of  Leon,  300. 

Prato,  cathedral  of,  east  end  and  transept 
ends,  280 ;  portals,  272 ;  tower,  280 ; 
vaults,  272. 

Private  dwellings,  unpretentious  in  the 
Gothic  period,  2. 

Profiles,  Gothic,  in  France,  304-337 ;  th° 
finest  are  those  of  the   latter  part  of 


INDEX 


445 


the    i2th   and   beginning  of  the    13th 

centuries,  337. 
Of  capitals   304-317 ;    the    early   Gothic 

abacus,  315  ;  the  bell,  316. 
Of  bases,  317-324. 
Of  string-courses,  324-330. 
Of  vault  ribs  and  arch  mouldings,  330- 

334- 
Of  mullions  and  tracery,  335-337. 
English,     338-352;      capitals,     338-344; 

bases,  344-347  ;  string-course,  347-348  ; 

arch   mouldings   and  vault   ribs,  348- 

352. 
German,  capitals,   353-355;    bases,  355; 

archivolts,    ribs,     string-courses,    and 

mullions,  355. 
Italian,  355-359;    capitals,    356;    bases, 

357;  archivolts  and  ribs,  358;  cornices, 

359- 
Pugin,  Augustus,  Specimens  of  Gothic  Archi- 
tecture and  Examples  of  Gothic  Archi- 
tecture, 3. 

Qalb-Louzeh,   church    of,  roof  supports 

3i"'^;  openings  155  (cut). 
Quicherat.  his  definition  of  Romanesque, 

in   "  De   I'Architecture    Romane,"   29; 

Melanges  d'  Archcologie  et  d ' Histoire, 

117. 1 
Quintino,  di  S.,  Dell '  architettura  italiana 

al  tempo  dei  Longobardi,  9I, 

Ramee,  Hist.  Generate  de  I'Architecture, 
2652. 

Ravenna,  church  of  St.  Vitale,  vaulting 
compared  with  ch.  of  Aix-la-Chapelle, 
34;  mullions  of  apsidal  openings,  335. 

Reims,  cathedral  of,  date  and  general  form 
of  construction,  138,  188;  general  ex- 
ternal aspect,  187-190  (plate)  ;  advance 
of  Gothic  principles  in,  190;  apse,  297; 
bases  of  the  nave,  321  (cut)  ;  caryatid 
in  pier  buttress,  369I;  fa9ade,  180;  hood- 
mouldings,  mullions,  and  tracery,  336; 
openings  in  apsidal  chapels,  156,  157 
(cut) ;  parapet,  188 ;  transept,  172 ; 
sculpture,  409,  of  buttresses,  370,  por- 
tals, 381,  nave,  396;  stained  glass,  420. 
Church  of  St.  Remi,  apse,  166  (cut)  ; 
apsidal  chapels,   170;    buttresses,  148. 

Renaissance,  in  France,  2 ;  in  England  and 
Germany,  3 ;  the  architecture  not  of 
the  people,  2. 

Rrvoil,  Architecture  Romane  du  Midi  de  la 
France,  41'. 

Rib-profiles,  330-334;  the  perfected  forms 
of,  333,  334  ;  influence  on  vaulting  cap- 
ital, 334;  of  transverse  ribs,  330-332, 
the  original  square  form  softened  by 
roll  mouldings,  331;  diagonal  ribs, 
332-334 ;     relation    of    transverse   and 


diagonal,  332;  of  cath.  of  .\miens,  333 
(cut),  334;  ch.  of  St.  Etienne  of  Beau- 
vais,  aisles,  330  (cut),  332,  choir,  334 
(cut)  ;  ch.  of  Berzy-le-Sec,  333  (cut) ; 
abbey  ch.  of  Bury,  aisle,  330  (cut),  333 
(cut)  ;  St.  Hildevert  of  Gournay,  332 
(cut)  ;  cath.  of  Laon,  332  (cut)  ;  cath.  of 
Lisieux,  351 ;  ch.  of  Morienval,  apse, 
330,  332  (cut)  ;  the  cath.  of  Noyon,  333 
(cut)  ;  cath.  of  Paris,  331  (cut),  332 
(cut),  334;  ch.  of  St.  Denis,  331  (cut), 
332  (cut)  ;  ch.  of  St.-Germain-des-Pr6s, 
331 ;  ch.  of  St.-Martin-des-Champs, 
apsidal  aisle,  330  (cuts)  ;  ch.  of  St. 
Germer-de-Fly,  330  (cut),  332  (cut); 
ch.  of  St.  Louis  of  Poissy,  apsidal 
aisles,  330  (cut)  ;  cath.  of  Senlis,  332 
(cut) ;  apsidal  chapels,  332,  333  (cut), 
triforium,  334 ;  ch.  of  Taverny,  transept, 
332  (cut)  ;  ch.  of  Ville-neuve-sur-Ver- 
beril,  333  (cut). 

English,  multiplicity  of  parts,  351;  con- 
tinuous curves  in,  351;  of  Lincoln 
cathedra],  351,  presbytery,  222. 

German,  355 ;  of  cath.  of  Bamberg,  238. 

Italian,  358 ;  of  cath.  of  Florence,  358 ; 
ch.  of  Sta.  Croce  of  Florence,  358; 
ch.  of  St.  Andrea  of  Vercelli,  265,  358. 

Spanish,  359. 
Ribs,  early  development  of,  15,  17 ;  gen- 
eral character  in  Gothic  structures,  19; 
early  structural  use  in  divitiing  vault 
cells,  70;  those  structurally  necessary 
only  employed,  134;  independent  sys- 
tem of  ribs  in  connection  with  pointed 
arch  as  a  framework  for  vaulting,  62, 
this  system  an  essential  feature  of 
Gothic  vaulting,  92 ;  supports  of,  99. 

Groin,  first  use  of,  appears  in  ch.  of  St. 
Ambrogio  of  Milan,  37;  use  of,  in 
Normandy,  46,  in  Ile-de-France,  47. 

Diagonal,  in  early  structures  curved  in 
plan,  61 ;  straight  in  developed  Gothic, 
81  (cut)  ;  distinctively  Gothic  arrange- 
ment of,  established,  83 ;  supported  on 
corbels,  75  (cut),  86  (cut),  99. 

Longitudinal,  early  use  of,  63;  supported 
on  corbels,  99  (cut) ;  on  short  shafts, 
100,  104  (cut),  117  (cut)  ;  stilting  of, 
16.  32,  130;  merged  with  the  archivolt 
of  the  window,  160  (cut). 

Transverse  ribs,  profiles  of,  330-332. 

Of  cath.  of  Amiens,  140;  cath.  of  Beau- 
vais,  aisle,  144  (cut) ;  ch.  of  St. 
fitienne,  52,  53,  104  (cut)  ;  ch.  of 
Berzy-le-Sec,  68,  70,  161 ;  ch.  of  Bethesy 
St.  Pierre,  aisles,  55  (cut),  63;  cath.  of 
Chartres,  nave,  135  (cut),  apse,  164 
(cut);  ch.  of  Morienval,  62;  ch.  of 
Noel-St.-Martin,  63;  cath.  of  Noyon, 
apse,    162    (cut),   apsidal    chapels,  94 


446 


INDEX 


(cut)  ;  cath.  of  Paris,  apse,  163  (cut)  ; 
eh.  of  St.  Denis,  apsidal  aisle,  82  (cut), 
83,  84;  ch.  of  St.-Germain-des-Pr6s, 
choir,  99,  100;  ch.  of  St.-Martin-des- 
Champs,  70  (cut)  ;  ch.  of  St.  Louis  of 
Poissy,  apsidal  aisle,  85 ;  ch.  of  St. 
Maclou  of  Pontoise,  apsidal  aisle  and 
chapel,  81  (cut)  ;  ch.  of  St.  Geinier- 
de-Fly,  apse,  74,  161  (cut),  apsidal 
aisle,  72  (cuts),  73,  apsidal  chapel,  73 
(cut),  81  (cut),  choir,  75  (cut),  76; 
cath.  of  Senlis,  apsidal  chapels,  94 
(cut)  ;  cath.  of  Sens,  apsidal  aisles,  86 
(cuts). 

English,  superfluous  ribs  general,  203, 
212;  use  of  ridge  rib,  203,  lierfies  and 
tiercerons,  212 ;  of  Canterbury  cath., 
choir,  196;  Lichfield  cath.,  nave,  224, 
225 ;  Lincoln  cath.,  aisles,  214,  choir, 
203,  nave,  212,  213  (cuts),  presbytery, 
222;  Rievaulx  abbey,  210;  Salisbury 
cath.,  nave,  216. 

German,  of  cath.  of  Bamberg,  238  ;  cath. 
of  Limburg,  nave,  242,  choir  and  apse, 
244 ;  cath.  of  Magdeburg,  240 ;  cath.  of 
Speyer,  238  ;  cath.  of  Worms,  238. 

Italian,  all  spring  from  the  same  level, 
267;  cath.  of  Florence,  274;  ch.  of 
S.  Ambrogio  of  Milan,  37. 

Spanish,  of  cath.  of  Burgos,  293 ;  cath.  of 
Salamanca,  284;  cath.  of  Toledo,  294, 

295- 
See  also  Vaults ;  Vaulting  shafts ;    Piers. 

Rickman,  Attempt  to  discriminate  the  Styles 
of  Architecture  in  Efigland,  4 ;  recog- 
nizes the  decadent  character  of  the 
perpendicular  style  of  England,  427^?. 

Rievaulx  abbey,  210;  equilateral  arches, 
217. 

Ringstead  church,  Northants,  spire,  233. 

Ripon  cathedral,  choir  and  transept,  date, 
210;  facade  and  portals,  231 ;  piers  and 
vaulting  shafts,  210,  211. 

Roman  architecture,  evolution  of  Roman- 
esque out  of,  29;  characteristics  of, 
30;  buttresses,  11;  vaults,  11,  15,32. 

Roman  sculpture.      See  Sculpture,  Roman. 

Roman  walls,  character  of,  10. 

Romanesque  architecture,  varieties  of  style, 
7;  characteristics  of,  15;  origin  and 
development  of,  29,  30,  40;  definition 
of,  29 ;  features  anticipated  in  early 
Byzantine  architecture,  33  ;  Lombard 
influence  apparent  in,  40;  sporadic 
types,  41,  mixed  forms,  43;  fullest  de- 
velopment of,  illustrated  in  ch.  of  St. 
Etienne  of  Beauvais,  57;  bases,  319; 
buttresses,  11, 12  (cuts)  ;  string-courses, 
324  (cut) ;  vaults,  difficulties  of  con- 
struction, 16  (cut)  ;  walls,  11. 
Of  Burgundy,  principles  of  the  Lombard 


system  reproduced  in,  43,  263;    char- 
acter illustrated  in  nave  of  ch.  of  V6ze- 
lay,   43,   44;    compared   with   pointed 
architecture    of    Burgundy,   261.      See 
also  Burgundy. 
Of  Ile-de-France,  principles  of  the  Lom- 
bard system  reproduced,  43;  character 
of,  50 ;  use  of  groin  ribs,  47 ;  final  de- 
velopment   of    organic     Romanesque 
reached,  51 ;  use  of  square  vault  with- 
out  intermediate  pier,   268 ;     capitals, 
308. 
Of  Normandy,  principles  of  the  Lombard 
system   reproduced,  43;    not   logically 
designed,  45;  early  type  of,  illustrated 
in  abbey  ch.  of  Bernay  and  ch.  of  St, 
Gervaise  of  Falaise,  45 ;  engaged  shafts 
often     structurally    unimportant,     45 
piers,    45,   48    (cut) ;    vaults,   45,   46 
groin  ribs,  46  ;  discussion  as  to  source 
of  alternate   system   of  vaulting,  462 
first  use  of  sexpartite  vault,  48 ;    rudi- 
mentary flying  buttress,  48  ;  bases,  319 ; 
capitals,  308. 
Of  southern   France,    characteristics  of, 
41;   prominent  features  essentially  Ro- 
man, 41. 
Of  Rhenish  Germany,   alternate  system 
of  vaulting,    i6i;    Lombard   influence 
apparent  in,  40,  237 ;  does  not  materi- 
ally contribute   towards  formation   of 
Gothic,  40 ;  capitals,  353. 
See  also  German  pointed  architecture. 

Romanesque  art  of  the  nth  cent,  in  Spain, 
284. 

Romanesque  sculpture.  See  Sculpture, 
Romanesque. 

Rome,  basilicas  of  Maxentius  and  Constan- 
tine,  II   (cut),  304,  and  other  similar 
Roman  works,  31. 
Flavian  amphitheatre,  constructive  prin- 
ciple of,  10  (cut) ;  engaged  columns,  11. 
San  Stefano  Rotondo,  arcades  of,  307. 

Romsey  cathedral,  arch  mouldings,  348. 

Roofs,  best  covering  for  aisle  vaulting,  253 ; 
of  ch.  of  Sta.  Croce  of  Florence,  271. 

Rouen,  cathedral  of,  apse,  163. 

Rubbiani,  La  Chiesa  di  S.  Francesco  in 
Bolog>ui,  267I. 

Ruprich-Robert,  L'Eglise  Ste.  Trinite  et 
r  Eglise  St.  Etienne  a  Caen,  13I,  49I; 
L'  Architecture  Normande,  45I ;  discus- 
sion in  regard  to  introduction  of  alter- 
nate system  of  vaulting  into  Normandy, 
462. 

Ruskin,  Modern  Painters,  3832. 

St.  Albans,  cathedral,  arch  mouldings,  348 ; 

fa9ade,  232;  length  of  the  nave,  234. 
St.   Ambrogio   of  Milan,  church   of.     Set 

Milan. 


INDEX 


447 


St.  Andrea  of  Mantua,  church  of.  See 
Mantua. 

St.  Andrea  of  Vercelli,  ch.  of.     See  Vercelli. 

Sainte  Chapelle,  profiling  of  set-offs  of  but- 
tresses, 327  (cut),  hood-mouldings, 
mullions  and  tracery,  336. 

St.  Contest  (Calvados),  church  of,  tower, 
183  (cut). 

Sta.  Croce  of  Florence,  church  of.  See 
Florence. 

St.  Denis  in  Paris,  church  of.     See  Paris. 

St.  Elizabeth  of  Marburg,  church  of.  See 
Marburg. 

St.  Evremond  of  Creil,  ch.  of.     See  Creil. 

St.  Front  of  Perigueux,  church  of.  See 
Perigueux. 

San  Galgano,  church  of,  shows  trace  of 
Burgundian  influence,  262,  illustrated 
by  comparison  with  abbey  ch.  of  Pon- 
tigny,  262,  263  (cut) ;  piers  and  but- 
tresses, 263 ;  vaulting  system,  263,  266, 
267. 

St.  Germain-des-Pr6s  in  Paris,  church  of. 
See  Paris. 

St.  Germer-de-Fly,  abbey  church  of,  70-80; 
Gothic  features  confined  to  interior,  79; 
advance  of  Gothic  principles  in,  190; 
influence  on  architecture  of  its  vicinity, 
103 ;  abaci  of  the  apse,  75 ;  apse,  74 
(plate),  161  (cut)  ;  bases,  320  (cut)  ; 
rudimentary  flying  buttresses,  14I,  78, 
79  (cut) ;  capitals  of  the  apse,  75,  312 
(cut);  corbels,  75  (cut),  99;  date  of 
east  end,  71, 102;  nave,  date,  102 ;  open- 
ings of  the  apsidal  chapel,  74,  of  the 
triforium,77  (plate),  78,  155;  piers  and 
vaulting  shafts  of  apsidal  aisle,  72  (cut), 
73  (cut),  of  the  apse,  74  (cut), 75  (cut), 
of  the  choir,  75  (cut),  76,  99,  of  the 
nave,  102;  ribsof  theapse,74, 161  (cut), 
of  the  apsidal  aisle,  72  (cuts),  73,  of  the 
apsidal  chapel,  73  (cut),  81  (cut),  of  the 
choir,  75  (cut),  76;  rib-profiles,  332; 
sculpture  of  capitals  of  the  choir,  386, 
string-course,  328,  clerestory  string  of 
the  apse,  75  (cut) ;  western  transept, 
103 ;  triforium  gallery,  77  (cut)  ;  vaults 
of  the  apsidal  aisle,  71,  72  (cuts),  73 
(cut),  of  the  apsidal  chapel,  73  (cut),  of 
the  apse,  74,  161  (cut),  of  the  choir,  76, 
102,  of  the  triforium  gallery,  77  (cut). 

St.  Gervais  of  Falaise,  church  of.  See 
Falaise. 

St.  Hildevert  of  Gournay,  church  of.  See 
Gournay. 

San  Isidoro,  church  of,  towers,  302. 

St.  Leu  d'Esserent,  abbey  church  of,  date, 
68, 188  ;  general  external  aspect,  187-189 
(plate);  abacus  (134);  apse,  163;  ap- 
sidal aisle,  170  (cut)  ;  buttresses,  146 
(cut),  147  (cut);   capitals,  310;    clere- 


story, 131,  132  (cut),  155  (cut);  mul- 
lions, 335 ;  openings  of  the  nave,  155 
(cut) ;  piers  and  vaulting  shafts  of  the 
nave,  134;  rib-profiles,  330,  331;  roof, 
189I ;  spire,  183;  vaults  of  porch  gal- 
lery, 68. 

St.  Louis  of  Poissy,  church  of.     See  Poissy. 

St.  Maclou  of  Pontoise,  church  of.  See  Pon- 
toise. 

Santa  Maria  de  Irache,  church  of,  no  or- 
ganic character  externally,  290;  capi- 
tals, 290;  ribs  and  vaulting  shafts,  290; 
transepts,  301. 

Sta.  Maria  della  Spina  in  Pisa,  church  of. 
See  Pisa. 

Sta.  Maria  Novella  of  Florence,  church  of. 
See  Florence. 

Sta.  Maria  of  Cosmedin,  church  of.  See 
Cosmedin. 

St.  Martin-des-Champs  in  Paris,  church  of. 
See  Paris. 

St.  Martin  of  Laon,  church  of.     See  Laon. 

St.  Martin  of  Segovia,  church  of.  See  Se- 
govia. 

St.  Martin  of  Tours,  church  of,  202. 

San  Martino,  church  of,  near  Viterbo,  shows 
trace  of  Burgundian  influence,  262; 
piers,  268. 

St.  Mary,  New  Shoreham,  church  of.  See 
New  Shoreham. 

S.  Michele  of  Pavia,  church  of.    See  Pavia. 

St.  Nazaire  of  Carcassonne,  church  of. 
See  Carcassonne. 

Saint-Paul,  Anthyme,  Viollet-le-Duc  et 
son  Systeme  Archeologique,  55I,  85 ; 
on  date  of  cath.  of  Sens  and  ch.  of  St. 
Denis,  8612. 

SS.  Peter  and  Paul  of  Neuweiler,  church 
of.    See  Neuweiler. 

St,  Pierre  of  Chartres,  church  of.  See 
Chartres. 

San   Stefano  Rotondo   at   Rome,  arcades, 

307- 

St.  Vaast  de  Longmont,  church  of,  spire, 
183. 

St.  V'incenzo  in  Prato  of  Milan,  church  of. 
See  Milan. 

St.  Vitale  of  Ravenna,  church  of.  See 
Ravenna. 

Salamanca,  cathedral  of,  284-289 ;  system 
of  nave  corresponds  with  contempo- 
raneous Burgundian  design,  284  (cut) ; 
extraordinary  massiveness  throughout, 
284;  great  height  of  the  ground-story 
piers,  286;  bases,  359;  capitals,  286, 
359;  dome,  date  of,  288,  approaches 
the  nature  of  a  Gothic  vault,  287  (cut), 
exterior  compared  with  early  Gothic 
spires  of  France,  287,  288,  292 ;  masonry 
of  vaulting,  285;  ribs,  284;  vaulting 
shafts,  286;  vaults,  284-286. 


INDEX 


Salamanca,  new  cathedral  of,  superfluous 
ribs,  297;  parapeted  gallery,  297. 

Salisbury  cathedral,  215-218  ;  date  of  erec- 
tion, 215 ;  comparison  with  French 
buildings,  215,  217;  no  structural  con- 
tinuity in  the  interior,  216;  absence  of 
sculpture,  408  ;  substantially  a  Norman 
building,  426;  arch  mouldings,  349; 
buttresses,  218  ;  capitals,  344  ;  chapter- 
house, 235,  openings  of,  235 ;  clerestory, 
217;  fafade,  230;  nave,  215;  pier 
arches,  217;  piers,  218;  ribs  of  the 
nave,  216;  spire,  233;  string-course, 
347;  triforium,  217;  vaults  of  the  nave, 
215  (cut). 

Scott,  (}.  G.,  History  of  English  Church 
Architecture,  5I. 

Scott,  Sir  Gilbert,  on  Gothic  Architecture,  5 ; 
Lectures  on  the  Rise  and  Development 
of  MedicBval  Architecture,  lyfi,  199^ ; 
on  stilting  of  the  clerestory  arch,  133. 

Sculpture,  Burgundian,  indicates  an  obser- 
vation of  nature,  364;  first  to  break 
away  from  older  types  of  conventional 
leafage,  385  (cut). 
French  Gothic,  developed  in  the  Ile-de- 
France  a  century  before  the  Italian 
revival,  361 ;  the  earliest  schools  in 
southern  Gaul  influenced  by  Roman 
and  Byzantine  work,  360,  361,  their 
classic  feeling,  362;  influence  of  Greek 
art  on,  362;  their  want  of  original  in- 
vention, 363;  early  schools  of  Bur- 
gundy, 364;  sources  of  stimulus  and 
guidance  to  early  sculptors  of  the  Ile-de- 
Franee,  364;  favourable  conditions  in 
the  Ile-de-France,  365  ;  sculpture  of  the 
12th  cent.,  366-373,  unrivalled  in  senti- 
ment, 371,374,  statues  neither  employed 
as  caryatids  nor  placed  in  niches,  369, 
yet  a  part  of  the  architectural  composi- 
tion, 370,  the  sculpture  of  this  period  at 
its  best  in  the  lintel  of  the  cath.  of 
Senlis,  373  ;  sculpture  of  the  early  13th 
cent.,  273,  comparison  with  Greek  art, 

23,  375,  376,  cath.  of  Paris  most  impor- 
tant in  sculpture  of  this  period,  374; 
the  second  half  of  the  13th  cent.,  377  ; 
character  of  surfaces,  379  ;  expression  of 
thought  and  emotion  a  leading  motive 
in  Gothic  sculpture,  379;  physical 
beauty  aimed  at  also  but  subordinated 
to  moral  and  spiritual  ends,  380;  the 
monstrous  and  grotesque,  381;  Ro- 
manesque imagery  early  rejected,  381; 
animal  forms  introduced,  382;  their 
truth  to  nature  and  ornamental  quality, 

24.  383 ;  leafage,  383 ;  Romanesque 
designs,  except  the  Corinthianesque 
leafage,  discarded  for  capitals,  386  ;  the 
influence   of  nature   traced,  386;    best 


Gothic  capitals  those  of  the  12th  cent., 
389;  quick  sympathy  with  nature,  389; 
leafage  of  the  successive  seasons  re- 
produced in  successive  styles  of  sculp- 
ture, 389,  396;  special  plant  forms  em- 
ployed, 389;  skill  in  execution,  390; 
the  best  qualities  shown  in  the  triforium 
of  the  nave  of  Paris,  390 ;  naturalism 
carried  almost  too  far  in  the  chapel  of 
the  catechists,  391  (cut)  ;  running  leaf 
patterns,  393  ;  orderly  sequence  without 
formality,  394 ;  over-naturalism  domi- 
nant after  the  middle  of  13th  cent.,  395  ; 
convention  in,  396;  importance  of 
breadth,  397;  use  of  colour,  398;  of 
capitals,  385-392 ;  of  the  fa9ade,  374- 
379;  of  portals,  370-373.375- 
Of  cath.  of  Amiens,  south  portal  of 
western  facade,  377,  378,  triforium 
string-course,  393  (cut),  cornice  of  ex- 
terior of  nave,  393,  choir  capital,  396; 
ch.  of  St.  Trophime  at  Aries,  cloister, 

366  (cut),  368;  cath.  of  Autun,  portal, 
364,  capital  of  the  nave,  385  (cut), 
Abbaye-aux- Dames  of  Caen,  capitals, 
386  (cut) ;  cath.  of  Chartres,  360,  west 
front,  367-369  (cut),  central  portal, 382, 
porches,  396;  ch.  of  Notre  Dame  du 
Port  of  Clermont-Ferrand,  362 ;  ch.  of 
Notre  Dame  of  Corbeil,  369;  cath.  of 
Laon,  capitals  of  triforium  314  (cut), 
387,  392;  cath.  of  Le  Mans,  south 
portal,  369;  cath.  of  Nevers,  396;  cath. 
of  Noyon,  capitals  of  the  choir,  386, 
string-course,  395;  of  cath.  of  Paris, 
buttresses,  369,  370,  transept  fa9ades, 
370,  south  door  of  west  front,  370,  west 
fa9ade,  375,  376,  383  (cut),  portal  of  the 
Virgin,  370,  375  (cut),  378,  412,  central 
portal,  376,  portal  of  south  transept,  377, 
portal  of  north  transept,  378  (cut),  402, 
grotesque  figure  in  hood-moulding, 
383  (cut),  capitals,  386,  of  the  triforium, 
312  (cut),  387,  388  (cuts),  390,  of  the 
chapel  of  the  catechists,  391  (cut),  run- 
ning leaf  ornaments  of  western  fa9ade, 
393  (cut),  of  the  Port  Rouge,  396;  ch. 
of  St.  Denis,  360,  north  transept,  366, 

367  (cut),  tympanums  of  west  portal, 
371 ;  cath.  of  Reims,  buttresses,  370, 
portals,  381,  nave,  396;  ch.  of  St. 
Germer-de-FIy,  386;  cath.  of  Senlis, 
lintel,  371-373  (plate),  central  portal, 
382  (cut),  capitals,  385  (cuts),  of  the 
triforium,  387  (cut) ;  cath.  of  Soissons, 
capitals  of  choir,  129  (cut),  387;  ch.  of 
V^zelay,  portal,  364,  capitals  of  the 
porch,  385. 

See  also  Gothic  sculpture. 
English,  400-408 ;  rare  in  the  12th  cent., 
400;  early  examples  of  figure  sculpture. 


INDEX 


449 


400;  13th  cent,  figure  sculpture  of  Wells,    ' 
400,   402,   its   want   of  relation   to   the    ' 
structure  of  the  building,  401 ;  want  of 
delicacy  and  refinement,  402  ;  the  angel    ! 
choir  of  Lincoln,  402 ;  foliate  sculpture,    i 
404,   its   artificial   conventionality,  404,    [ 
much  expression  of  natural  beauty  not- 
withstanding artificial  peculiarities,  406 ; 
Anglo-Norman  and  French  characteris- 
tics combined  in  the  foliate  sculpture 
of  Wells  cath.,  407;  the  imaginary  and 
grotesque  less  common  than  in  France, 
407  ;  sculpture  almost  wanting  in  many 
important  buildings,  408 ;  of  Ely  cath., 
the  Prior's  gateway,  400 ;  Lincoln  cath., 
west  front,  400   (cut),  the   angel  choir 
and  other  figure  sculpture,  403,  capitals 
of  Bishop  Hugh's  choir  and  transept, 
405   (cut),   sculpture   of   the   nave   in- 
ferior, 406  (cut)  ;    cath.  of  Southwell, 
404  (cut)  ;  \\'ells  cath.,  west  front,  400, 
402,  capitals,  407. 

German,  408,  409 ;  largely  confined  to 
works  on  a  small  scale,  general  absence 
of  figure  sculpture,  late  Gothic  influence, 
408;  lack  of  monumental  qualities  and 
architectural  relationship,  realism  of, 
foliate  sculpture,  409;  of  Cologne  and 
Strasburg  caths.,  409  ;  the  Liebfrauen- 
kirche  of  Trier,  408. 

Greek,  its  likeness  to  nature,  23 ;  com- 
pared with  French  Gothic,  23 ;  its  in- 
fluence on  Gothic,  24. 

Italian,  410;  its  revival  subsequent  to  the 
development  of  the  Gothic  school  in 
France,  361,  410;  the  production  of  in- 
dividual sculptors,  not  of  a  school  or 
guild,  410;  want  of  connection  with 
architecture,  410;  mingling  of  Gothic 
and  Roman  elements,  411;  the  classic 
elements  in  the  sculptures  of  Pisa  com- 
pared with  those  in  French  Gothic 
sculpture,  411;  French  Gothic  models 
followed  in  foliate  sculpture,  412;  of 
cath.  of  Florence,  the  campanile,  411, 
door  jamb-^,  412,  baptistery  gates,  413, 
Ducal  pal. ice,  o'der  capitals,  413;  cath. 
of  Orvieto,  reliefs,  412;  cath.  of  Pisa, 
pulpit  of  the  baptistery,  411,  412. 

Roman,  influence  on  the  sculpture  of 
southern  Gaul,  on  Italian  work,  411,  412. 

Romanesque,  its  imagery,  381  ;  orna- 
mental forms  derived  from  Roman  and 
Byzantine  work,  384  ;  types  of  ornament 
for  capitals,  385. 

Spanish,  copied  from  French  models,  413 ; 
ch.  of  San  Vincent  of  Avila,  portals,  413  ; 
cath.  of  Burgos,  transept  portals,  413; 
choir,  414;  ch.  of  St.  Esteban,  portal, 
414;  cath.  of  Leon,  west  portal,  414; 
ch.  of  St.  Martin  of  Segovia,  413. 
2G 


See  also  Capitals. 

Secular  builders,  begin  to  take  a  leading 
part  in  architectural  works,  87,  88. 

Segovia,  ch.  of  St.  Martin  of,  sculpture,  413. 

Selby  Abbey,  fa9ade,  232. 

Senlis,  cathedr.il  of,  the  interior  Gothic,  the 
exterior  Romanesque,  98;  advance  of 
Gothic  principles  in,  190;  represents 
perfection  in  Gothic  masonry,  96; 
originally  constructed  without  transept, 
90^;  abacus  of  the  choir  and  nave,  313, 
315  (cut)  ;  bases, 320  (cut)  ;  buttresses, 
99,  178  (cut) ;  capitals  of  the  apse, 
308-311  (cut),  of  the  choir,  92,  99.  310, 
311, 313, 353, 385  (cuts) ,  of  the  triforium, 
387  (cut)  ;  choir,  94  (cuts)  ;  eastern 
portion,  188I ;  fa9ade,  176  (cut),  177; 
openings  of  the  apsidal  chapels,  94, 
159;  piers  and  vaulting  shafts  of  the 
choir,  91,  92,  96  (cut),  310,  311 ;  portal, 
western  facade,  177,  282  (cut)  ;  ribs  of 
the  apsidal  chapels,  94  (cut) ;  rib-pro- 
files, 332;  vaults  of  the  choir,  91,  of  the 
apsidal  chapels,  94,  of  the  nave,  loi ; 
sculpture  of  the  lintel,  371-373  (plate) ; 
of  central  portal,  382  (cut);  spire,  185 
(plate) ;  string-course,  326,  328. 
Church  of  St.  Frambourg,  neglect  and 
abuse  of,  loi"-^. 

Sens,  cathedral  of,  piers  of  the  apsidal  aisle, 
86,  87  (cut),  of  the  nave,  119;  ribs  and 
vaults  of  apsidal  aisle,  86  (cuts) ,  of  the 
apse,  163;  vaulting  shafts  of  the  nave, 
119 ;  transept,  172. 

Sens,  William  of,  architect  of  the  choir  of 
Canterbury,  196,  205. 

Sevilla,  cathedral  of,  nave  vaulting,  297 ; 
parapeted  gallery,  297. 

Shaft,  volume  reduced  in  Gothic  architec- 
ture,18  ;  engaged, used  illogically  in  some 
Norman    buiidings,   45;    often    mono- 
lithic, in  France  after  the  nth  cent.,  308. 
See  Piers ;  Ribs ;  Vaulting  shafts. 

Sharpe,  Edmund,  The  Seven  Periods  of 
English  Church  Architecture,  ^^ ;  on 
date  of  ch.  ol  St.  Mary,  New  Shoreham, 
209 1. 

Siena,  cathedral  of,  want  of  Gothic  charac- 
ter, 273 ;  fa9ade,  279 ;  openings,  277, 
278;  pinnacles,  282;  transept  ends,  280. 

Soissons,  cathedral  of,  date,  128- ;  abacus, 

128  (cut)  ;  bases,  322  (cut)  ;  buttresses, 
149  (cut);  capitals,  129  (cut),  387; 
clerestory,  166;  openings,  166;  para- 
pet,  188;    piers,   128    (cut);    sculpture, 

129  (cut),  387;  transept,  172. 
Southwell    minster,   arch    mouldings,    348 ; 

capitals,  344;  sculpture,  north  transept, 

404  (cut). 
Spalato,  palace  of  Diocletian,  capitals,  304. 
Spalato,  arcade  of,  31. 


450 


INDEX 


Spanish  pointed  architecture,  284-303; 
brought  in  by  the  Cistercian  and  Clu- 
niac  monks,  293 ;  not  an  original  style, 
292,  297,  303  ;  buildings  modelled  from 
those  of  southern  and  centra!  Gaul, 
284,  290, 293,  303,359 ;  in  the  12th  cent., 
284;  eariy  buildings,  284-293,  apses 
probably  older  than  the  naves,  290, 
organic  systems  of,  291 ;  great  height 
of  ground-story  piers,  286;  use  of  the 
barrel  vault,  292;  the  complete  Gothic 
of  France  taken  as  a  model  in  the  sec- 
ond quarter  of  the  13th  cent.,  293  ;  later 
buildings  depart  from  Gothic  form, 
297;  imitation  of  English  fan  vaulting 
and  the  parapeted  gallery  of  Italian 
chtirches,  297  ;  influence  of  climate  on 
style,  298;  east  ends,  301 ;  fa9ades,  298- 
301 ;  French  forms  followed  closely  in 
few  cases,  298  ;  openings,  298  ;  profiles 
mainly  Gothic,  359;  no  true  Gothic 
spire,  302  ;  towers,  302 ;  tracery,  298  ; 
transepts,  301. 

Speyer,  cathedral,  date  of,  237I ;  a  Roman- 
esque building,  40,  237,  238 ;  piers  and 
ribs,  238  ;  vaults,  237. 

Spires  in  French  churches,  182-187;  diffi- 
culties in  adapting  its  octagonal  plan 
to  the  square  substructure,  183 ;  early 
use  of  dormers,  183 ;  strengthened  by 
squinches,  186;  of  the  ch.  of  Chamant, 
183  (cut),  184;  cath.  of  Chartres,  184 
(cut) ;  ch.  of  St.  Leu  d'Esserent,  183 ; 
ch.  of  St.  Vaast  de  Longmont,  183; 
cath.  of  Senlis,  185  (plate) ;  abbey  ch. 
of  the  Trinity  at  VendSme,  184;  ch.  of 
Vernouillet,  185 ;  ch.  of  San  Fermo 
Maggiore  of  Verona,  282. 
English,  rare  in  early  pointed  architecture, 
233;  peculiarity  of  English  construc- 
tion, 233. 
German,  256;  adjustment  of,  to  towers, 
257 ;  of  cath.  of  Freiburg,  258  ;  cath. 
of  Gelnhausen,  257 ;  ch.  of  St.  Eliza- 
beth of  Marburg,  257  (cut)  ;  of  the 
Lorenzkirche,  Nuremberg,  257. 

Squinches,  117. 

Stained  glass  in  Gothic  buildings,  22;  effect 
on  the  character  of  openings,  160. 
French,  415-419;  its  developed  style 
peculiar  to  12th  and  13th  cent.  Gothic, 
417;  limitations  due  to  the  nature  of 
the  materials  employed,  417;  distin- 
guished from  wall  painting,  417 ;  the 
medieval  designer  adhered  strictly  to 
the  conventions  proper  to  his  art,  418; 
heraldic  treatment  of  colour,  418,  420; 
modern  attempts  to  give  the  art  a  wider 
range,  418 ;  of  ch.  of  St.  Denis  and 
cath.  of  Chartres,  419,  420;  of  cath.  of 
Paris  and  Sainte  Chapelle,  420  ;  noth- 


ing peculiar  in  other  countries,  423 ; 
fine  examples  in  England  and  Ger- 
many, but  mainly  dependent  on  France, 

423- 
Statues,  neither  used  as  caryatids  nor  set 
in      niches     in     Gothic     architecture, 

369- 

Stilting  of  the  longitudinal  arches  of  a  vault, 
16,  32 ;  its  real  significance  is  in  con- 
centrating the  vault  thrusts,  130-132 
(cuts) ;  of  the  longitudinal  rib  in  the 
cath.  of  Amiens,  140 ;  cath.  of  Beauvais, 
144  (cut)  ;  cath.  of  Chartres,  136. 

Strasburg  cathedral,  date,  252 ;  design  has 
much  of  Gothic  character,  252  ;  capitals, 
355;  fa9ade,  256;  openings  of  the 
clerestory,  252;  sculpture,  409. 

Street,  Gothic  Architecture  in  Spain,  291, 
296,  298. 

String-courses,  Gothic,  324-330;  change 
from  the  fiat  to  the  sloping  form,  324, 
325 ;  becomes  a  drip  moulding,  325 
(cut);  important  function  of,  326 ;  be- 
comes an  ornamental  feature,  326  ;  in- 
terior mouldings,  327-330 ;  arrangement 
of  triforium  shafts  in  reference  to,  329; 
of  cath.  of  Amiens,  326  (cut),  329  (cut), 
sculpture  of,  393 ;  ch.  of  St.  Etienne  of 
Beauvais,  328  (cut) ;  ch.  of  St.  Pierre 
of  Chartres,  326  (cut),  328  (cut),  329; 
ch.  of  St.  Evremond  of  Creil,  324,  325 
(cut),  326;  abbey  ch.  of  Longpont, 
328  (cut) ;  abbey  ch.  of  Morienval,  325 
(cut)  ;  cath.  of  Noyon,  395;  cath.  of 
Paris,  cornice,  326  (cut),  triforium,  329 
(cut) ;  ch.  of  St.  Germer-de-Fly,  clere- 
story of  apse,  75  (cut),  triforium,  328 
(cut);  cath.  of  Senlis,  325  (cut),  326, 
328  (cut). 
English,  347-348;  made  up  of  curves, 
347 ;  beak  moulding,  347 ;  use  of  the 
corbel-table,  348  ;  of  the  interior,  348  ; 
of  Lincoln  cath.,  exterior  of  choir,  347; 
interior,  348  ;  Salisbury  cath.,  347; 
Wells  cath.,  347;  beak  moulding  of 
Glastonbury  cath.,  347. 
German,  355. 

Italian  and  Spanish,  359;  of  ch.  of  St. 
Francis  of  Assisi,  359 ;  cath.  of  Flor- 
ence, 359. 

Style,  architectural,  7. 

Sully,  Maurice  de,  founder  of  cath.  of  Paris, 

371- 

Superfluous  ribs  general  in  English  build- 
ings,  203,   212;    use   in   later  pointed 
buildings  of  Spain,  297. 
See   also   Ridge   ribs ;    Liernes ;    Tierce- 
rons. 

Symbolism  of  animal  forms  in  Gothic  sculp- 
ture, 383. 

Syria,  central,  characteristics  of  architecture 


INDEX 


451 


of,  30,  31 ;  its  early  departure  from 
Roman  and  approach  to  Romanesque 
principles,  30;  influence  upon  Roman 
art  of  the  west,  31  ;  influence  of  eastern 
architecture  upon,  31;  absence  of 
vaulting  over  naves,  31. 

Tarragona,  cathedral  of,  290  ;  barrel 
vaults,  292. 

Taverny,  church  of,  rib  profiles  of  the  tran- 
sept, 332. 

Technical  skill,  generally  accompanied  by 
decline  in  expressional  power,  372,  374. 

Temple  Cliurch  in  London.     See  London. 

Thierry,  A.,  Letties  stir  V Hist,  de  France, 
87I. 

Tiercerons,  in  Lincoln  cathedral  nave,  212 
(cut),  presbytery,  222;  in  cath.  of  To- 
ledo, 294 ;  new  cath.  of  Salamanca,  297. 

Tintern  Abbey,  equilateral  arches,  217. 

Toledo,  cathedral  of,  modelled  after  the 
French  Gothic,  294;  buttresses,  296; 
clerestory  openings,  296,  298 ;  fa9ade, 
300;  piers,  295 ;  ribs,  294,  295 ;  towers, 
302;  has  no  triforium,  296,  298. 

Toscanella,  church   of  Sta.  Maria,   fa9ade 
opening,  278I. 
Ch.  of  San  Pietro,  fa9ade  opening,  278I. 

Toulouse,  school  of  sculpture,  363. 

Tournus,  church  of  St.  Philibert  illustrates 
a  sporadic  type  of  Romanesque  archi- 
tecture, 41;  vaults,  42,  194. 

Tours,  church  of  St.  Martin,  202. 

Towers,  of  the  Gothic  facade,  173 ;  estab- 
lished in  Romanesque  period,  173. 
Of  ch.  of  Abbaye-au.x-Hommes  at  Caen, 
174  (cut)  ;  ch.  of  Morienval,  182  (cut)  ; 
ch.  of  St.  Contest  (Calvados),  183  (cut)  ; 
abbey  ch.  of  the  Trinity  at  Vend6me, 
184. 
Of  English  churches,  232 ;   general  pro- 
vision for  a  central  tower  at  crossing 
of  nave  and  transept,  232;  of  Lincoln 
cath.,  232  (cut). 
Of  German  churches,  Gelnhausen,   256, 
257;   Heiligenstadt,  257;  cath.  of  Lim- 
burg,  257 ;   Lorenzkirche,  Nuremberg, 

257- 

Of  Italian  churches,  seldom  incorporated 
with  the  church  edifice,  a  building  of 
several  stories,  280;  cath.  of  Florence, 
281 ;  ch.  of  St.  Andrea  of  Mantua,  282 ; 
the  Scaligeri  at  Verona,  282  (cut). 

Of  Spanish  churches,  ch.  of  San  Vincent 
of  Avila,  299 ;  cath.  of  Leon,  302. 

See  also  Spires;  Fa9ades. 
Tracery,  early  instance  of,  153  (cut)  ;  de- 
velopment of,  157-160  ;  necessity  of,  in 
large  openings,  160;  profiles,  335;  of 
cath.  of  Amiens,  336;  cath.  of  Paris, 
clerestory,  153  (cut),  158,  159;  cath.  of 


Reims,  apsidal  openings,  157  (cut),  336. 

In  Italian  chs.,  270,  278;  of  cath.  of 
Arezzo,  271 ;  ch.  of  Fassanova,  278. 

&tf  dA(?  Mullions  ;  Openings. 
Transept   chapels,  172;   of  caths.  of  Laon 
and    Sens,  172 ;    ch.  of  Sta.  Croce  at 
Florence,  271. 
Transept  ends, 

Of  French  churches,  172. 

Of  English  churches,  228 ;  of  Beverley 
minster,  Lincoln  cath.,  Worcester  cath., 
228. 

Of  German  chs.,  256  ;  ch.  of  St.  Elizabeth, 
of  Marburg,  256. 

Of  Italian  churches,  280;  ch.  of  St.  Fran- 
cis of  Bologna,  Sta.  Maria  Novella,  and 
cath.  of  Siena,  280. 

Of  Spanish  churches,  cath.  of  Burgos,  301 ; 
cath.  of  Leon,  301. 
Transepts  of  French  churches,  171 ;  two, 
common  in  English  churches,  234;  of 
cath.  of  Amiens,  172;  cath.  of  Chartres, 
172;  cath.  of  Laon,  171,  172;  cath.  of 
Noyon,  171 ;  caths.  of  Paris,  Reims, 
Sens,  Soissons,  172. 
Transitional  architecture  defined,  56. 
Trier,  Liebfrauenkirche  of,  date,  245 ;  nave 
and  transept  of  equal  length,  245;  im- 
perfectly Gothic,  247;  apse,  248,  266; 
capitals,  246,  354;  piers,  246  (cut); 
sculpture  of  portal,  408;  triforium,  245; 
vaulting  shafts,  246  (cut),  248. 
Triforium,  enclosed  by  masonry  in  French 
buildings,  161 ;  arrangement  of  shafts 
in  reference  to  the  string-course,  329; 
bases,  321 ;  of  the  cath.  of  Amiens, 
160,  253 ;  cath.  of  Beauvais,  choir,  and 
apse,  253;  ch.  of  St.  Etienne,  105,  106; 
ch.  of  Abbaye-aux-Dames  at  Caen,  219, 
220  (cut). 

English,  usually  open  to  the  aisle  roof, 
192;  of  Lincoln  cath.,  208;  Malmes- 
bury  abbey,  192;  Salisbury  cath.,  217; 
Wells  cath.,  219,  220  (cut). 

German,  Cologne  cath.,  252,  253 ;  cath. 
of  Limburg,  243;  Liebfrauenkirche  of 
Trier,  245. 

Italian,  cath.  of  Lucca,  276. 

Spanish,  cath.  of  Burgos,  294. 
Triforium  gallery,  early  Gothic,  77    (cut)  ; 
of  cath.  of  Noyon,  89,  107  ;  of  ch.  of  St. 
Germer-de-Fly,  77  (cut),  78. 
Triforium  openings,  106I ;   of  Poissy,  106I ; 
ch.    of    St.   Germer-de-Fly,   77    (cut)  ; 
caths.  of  Chartres,  Paris,  Reims,  Sois- 
sons, 160. 
Triforium  string.     See  String-courses. 
Trinity,  abbey  church  of  the,  at  Vendfime, 

tower  and  spire,  184. 
Tudela,  cathedral,  apsidal  vault  of  primitive 
Gothic  form,  290. 


452 


INDEX 


VasaRI,   Lives,  etc.,   265,   on    Italian   and 

Byzantine  art,  360,  361. 
Vaulting  shafts, general  character  of  in  Gothic 
structures,  19,  go,  92,  99, 129;  uniting  of 
clerestory  and  triforiuin,  160  (cut),  166; 
coupled,  290;  of  the  cath.  of  Amiens, 
140  (cut) ;  cath.  of  Bourges,  118;  ch.  of 
Abbaye-aux-Homnies,  48  (cut)  ;  the 
cath.  of  Chartres,  nave,  137;  Notre 
Dame  of  Dijon,  119;  ch.  of  Gonesse, 
119  ;  cath.  of  Laon,  117  (cut),  128  (cut)  ; 
ch.  of  Mantes,  116  (cut)  ;  cath.  of 
Meaux,  120  (cut) ;  cath.  of  Noyon, 
nave,  107  ;  cath.  of  Paris,  choir,  113, 114 
(cuts),  nave,  115  (cuts),  116,  125; 
of  ch.  of  Pontigny,  261 ;  of  ch.  of  St. 
Germer-de-Fly,  of  the  apsidal  aisle,  72 
(cut),  73  (cut),  of  the  apse,  74  (cut), 
75  (cut),  of  the  choir,  75  (cut),  76,  99, 
of  the  nave,  102;  cath.  of  Senlis,  choir, 
91,  92;  cath.  of  Sens,  nave,  119,  196; 
cath.  of  Soissons,  128  (cut). 

Of  Canterbury  cath.,  choir,  196  (cut), 
207  (cut)  ;  Chichester  cath.,  199;  Lich- 
field cath.,  nave,  225;  Lincoln  cath., 
choir,  204-208  (cut),  nave,  213,  aisles, 
214,  presbytery,  222,  223;  Malmes- 
bury  abbey,  191  (cut)  ;  ch.  of  St.  Mary, 
New  Shoreham,  nave,  209  ;  Ripon  cath., 
choir,  210,  transept,  211. 

Of  cath.  of  Bamberg,  239,  240;  ch.  of 
St.  Gereon  of  Cologne,  244;  cath.  of 
Liinburg,  243 ;  cath.  of  Magdeburg, 
240 ;  Liebfrauenkirche  of  Trier,  246 
(cut). 

Of  cath.  of  Florence,  274;  ch.  of  San 
Galgano,  263. 

Of  cath.  of  Burgos,  293;  cath.  of  Sala- 
manca, 286;  ch.  of  Santa  Maria  de 
Irache,  290. 

See  also  Piers;  Ribs;  Vaults;  Abacus; 
Capitals. 
Vaults,  Byzantine  compared  with  Roman, 
32,  36;  difficulties  of  construction  over 
oblong  compartments,  16  (cut),  62,  64, 
66,  76  ;  effect  of  the  introduction  of  the 
pointed  arch  upon,  15,  17  (cut)  ;  in 
Gothic  architecture  always  both  stilted 
and  domed,  17 ;  general  character  in 
Gothic  buildings,  19 ;  first  important 
innovations  in,  31 ;  divided  into  cells 
by  ribs,  70 ;  crowns  of  the  ribs  and 
arches,  65I,  130;  irregularity  of  surface, 
III,  130;  character  of  vaults  in  more 
advanced  Gothic,  129;  twisting  of  the 
vault  surfaces,  130,  296 ;  the  thrusts 
concentrated  on  the  piers  by  stilting  of 
the  longitudinal  rib,  132  (cut),  140; 
only  constructively  necessary  ribs  em- 
ployed, 134;  use  of  square  vault  with- 
out   the    intermediate    pier,    64    (cut). 


268  ;  primitive  Norman  vaults  of  Peter- 
borough cath.  compared  with  vaults 
of  ch.  of  St.  Etienne  of  Beauvais,  211 
(cut)  ;  barrel,  12,  in  Spanish  churches, 
292;  half-barrel,  12. 

Groined,  Byzantine  compared  with 
Roman,  32,  36;  groins  elliptical  in 
Roman,  semicircular  in  Byzantine 
vaults,  32;  alternate  arrangement,  38 
(cut),  268,  discussion  as  to  introduction 
of,  into  Normandy,  46"'^ ;  uniform  ar- 
rangement, 38  (cut) ;  use  of  the  Roman, 
in  triforium  gallery  of  St.  Germer-de- 
Fly,  77  (cut),  78. 

Domical  groined,  an  innovation  of  Byzan- 
tine construction,  32,  which  made  the 
Gothic  style  possible,  309;  removes  the 
restriction  of  vaulting  to  square  areas, 
32;  early  use  of,  in  Lombard  archi- 
tecture, 36;  groin  ribs  introduced,  37. 

Quadripartite,  development  of,  37,  76; 
contemporaneous  with  sexpartite,  108, 
no;  earliest  and  most  prevalent  form 
of  Gothic  vault,  108;  of  general  use  in 
the  13th  cent.,  129.  Quinquepartite 
vault,  94  (cut). 

Sexparlite,  characteristics  of,  48,  evolved 
in  ch.  of  Abbaye-aux-Hommes  at  Caen, 
48,91;  contemporaneous  with  quadri- 
partite, 108,  no.    Tripartite,  76. 

Of  ch.  of  Aix-Ia-Chapelle,  34  (cut)  ;  cath. 
of  Amiens,  nave,  140,  apse,  165  (cut) ; 
cath.  of  Auxerre,  apse,  163;  cath.  of 
Beauvais,  aisle,  144  (cut);  ch.  of  St. 
Etienne,  nave,  52,  104  (cut),  aisles,  52, 
53  (cut)  ;  ch.  of  Berzy-le-Sec,  68,  70, 
161 ;  Bethesy  St.  Pierre,  aisles,  55  (cut)  ; 
ch.  of  Bury,  aisle,  64  (cuts)  ;  ch.  of 
Abbaye-aux-Dames,  12,  13,  14  (cut), 
choir,  46;  ch.  of  Abbaye-aux-Hommes, 
12,  13  (cut),  nave,  46,  47,  48  (cut),  92; 
of  ch.  of  St.  Sophia,  32  ;  of  cath.  of 
Chartres,  apse,  164  (cut),  nave,  135 
(cut)  ;  of  cath.  of  Le  Mans,  apsidal  aisle, 
35, 170 ;  of  cath.  of  Mainz,  238  ;  of  ch.  of 
S.  Ambrogio  of  Milan,  36-38;  ofch.  of 
Montreal,  261 ;  ofch.  of  Morienval,  nave 
aisle,  50,  53;  apsidal  aisle,  59  (cut), 
60,  61,  62  (cut)  ;  of  ch.  of  Notre-Dame- 
en-Vaux,  apsidal  aisle,  34 ;  of  cath.  of 
Noyon,  nave,  107;  apse,  162  (cut), 
apsidal  chapels,  94;  of  cath.  of  Paris, 
apse,  163  (cut),  choir,  no,  in,  163, 
nave,  no,  in;  ofch.  of  St.  Denis,  apsidal 
aisle  and  chapels,  82  (cut),  83,  84  (cut) 
85;  nave,  142;  ofch.  of  St.  Martin-des- 
Champs,  apse,  70  (cut);  of  abbey  ch.of 
Pontigny,  261;  of  ch.  of  St.  Vitale  of  Ra- 
venna, 34;  ofch.  of  St.  Remi  of  Reims, 
apse,  166 ;  of  cath.  of  Rouen,  apse,  163  ; 
of  ch.  of  St.  Germer-de-Fly,  apse,  74, 161 


INDEX 


453 


(cut),  apsidal  aisle,  71,  72  (cuts),  73 
(cut),  apsidal  chapel,  73  (cut),  choir, 
76, 102,  triforiuni  gallery,  77  (cut) ;  of  ch. 
of  St.  George,  Bocherville,  46;  of  ch.  of 
St.  Leu  d'Esserent,  apse,  163,  porch 
gallery,  68  (cut)  ;  of  ch.  of  St.  Louis  of 
Poissy,  aisle  and  nave,  54,  55,  apsidal 
aisle,  85;  of  ch.  of  St.  Maclouof  Fontoise, 
apsidal  aisle  and  chapel,  81  (cut;  ; 
of  ch.  of  S.  Michele  of  Pavia,  36 ;  of  ch. 
of  St.  Nicholas,  choir,  46;  of  cii.  of  St. 
Philibert  of  Tournus,  42, 194  ;  of  cath.  of 
Senlis,  choir,  91,  apsidal  chapeis,  94, 
nave,  loi ;  of  caih.  of  Sens,  apsidal 
aisles,  86  (cuts). 

English,  first  step  towards  fan  vaulting, 
212,  213  ;  polygonal  chapter-houses, 
235;  absence  of  vaulting  in  the  smaller 
village  churches,  235;  primitive  Nor- 
man vaults  of  Peterborough  cath.  com- 
pared with  vaults  of  ch.  of  St.  Etienne 
of  Beauvais,  211  (cut)  ;  of  Canterbury 
cath.,  choir,  196;  Fountains  abbey, 
aisle,  194  (cut) ;  Kirkstall  abbey,  195  ; 
Lincoln  cath.,  aisles,  214,  choir,  202- 
204  (cuts),  east  transept,  204I,  nave,  212, 
213  (cuts),  presbytery,  222;  Maimes- 
bury  abbey,  aisle,  191  (cut)  ;  Salisbury 
cath.,  nave,  215  (cut). 

Of  cath.  of  Bamberg,  238,  239;  Cologne 
cath.,  252 ;  ch.  of  St.  Gereon  of  Cologne, 
244;  cath.  of  Freiburg,  251;  cath.  of 
Limburg,  242-244  ;  cath.  of  Magdeburg, 
240;  ch.  of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul  at 
Neuweiler,  250;  cath.  of  Speyer,  238; 
Strasburg  cath.,  252;  cath.  of  Worms, 
238. 

Of  ch.  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi,  265;  ch. 
of  Sta.  Croce  at  Florence,  apse,  271, 
272;  ch.  of  San  Galgano,  263,  266;  ch. 
of  Sta.  Maria  Novella,  267,  268  ;  ch.  of 
the  Frari,  \'enice,  272. 

Of  ch.  of  San  Vincent  of  Avila,  289;  cath. 
of  Salamanca,  284,  286 ;  cath.  of  Sevilla, 
297  ;  cath.  of  Tarragona,  292. 

See  also  Ribs;  Vaulting  shafts. 

Roman,  11,  15;    compared  with  Byzan- 
tine, 32,  36. 
\'end6me,  abbey  church  of  the  Trinity,  tower 

and  spire,  184. 
Venice,  church  of  the  Frari,  use  of  plain 
round  columns,  272 ;  fa9ade,  279  ;  vaults 
of  tlie  apse,  272. 

Ducal  palace,  sculpture  of  the  older  capi- 
tals, 413. 
Vercelli,  church  of  St.  Andrea,  origin  of 
architectural  style,  264;  lack  of  Gothic 
character,  265,  east  end,  280  ;  piers,  265  ; 
profiles,  265,  358;  vaulting  system,  264, 
265 ;  walls,  265. 
Verneilh,  Felix  de,  L Architecture  Byzantine 


en  France,  42^ ;  Le  Premier  des  Monu- 
ments Gothiques,  55I,  85. 

Vernouiliet,  church  of,  Seine-et-Oise,  spire, 
185;  comparative  height  of  nave  and 
aisles,  249I. 

Verona,  church  of  Sta.  Anastasia,  use  of 
plain  round  columns,  272. 
Church  of  S.  Fermo,  pinnacles,  283. 
Scaligeri,  the,  tower,  282  (cut). 
Church   of  St.   Stephano,  earliest  extant 

instance  of  apsidal  aisles,  35. 
Church  of  San  Fermo  Maggiore,  spire, 

282. 
Church    of  San  Zenone,    opening,   west 
front,  278I. 

Veruela,  abbey  church  of,  apsidal  vault  of 
primitive  Gothic  form,  291. 

Vezelay,  abbey  church  of,  structural  char- 
acter, 43,  44;  compared  with  abbey  ch. 
of  Pontigny,  261;  capitals,  385 ;  sculp- 
ture of  portal,  364,  of  porch,  385. 

Vicenza,  church  of  San  F'elice,  35. 

Viery,  ^L  ].,  L' Architecture  A'omane  dans 
I'Ancien  Diocese  de  A/acon,  43-. 

Ville-neuve-sur-Verberie  (Oise),  church  of, 
rib-profiles,  333. 

Viollet-le-Duc,  Dictionnaire  Raisonne  de 
V Architecture  Francaise,  7  ;  /  'oute,  32^, 
75I,  170I;  drawings  of  St.  Louis  of 
Poissy,  85-* ;  Transept,  1032  ;  Construction, 
108I,  113I,  142I,  159I,  182I;  Cathedrale, 
117I,  151I;  Pilier,  128I ;  Balustrade, 
189I;  Capiteau,  304I ;  Bandeau,  3^1; 
Profil,  332I ;  Sculpture,  363!,  364I,  368I ; 
Niche,  370I ;  Porte,  375'^;  Animaux, 
382. 

Visher,  Peter,  sculpture  of,  409. 

Vitet,  L.,  Notre-Dame  de  Noyon,  87I. 

Von  Bezold,  Die  Kirchliche  Baukunst  des 
Abendlandes,  240. 

Wall  openings.     See  Openings;    Trifo- 

rium  openings. 
Walls,  gradual  reduction  of  in  Gothic  archi- 
tecture, 18;  general  character  in  Gothic 
buildings,  20,  153;  practically  dispensed 
with  in  developed  style,  160. 
Roman,  10. 
Romanesque,  11. 
Walpole,  Horace,  his   interest   in    Gothic, 

3- 
Wells  cathedral,  218-221 ;  date  of  construc- 
tion, 218;  vaulting  and  structural  rela- 
tions, 218  (cut)  ;  compared  with  the 
ch.  of  Abbaye-aux-Dames  at  Caen,  219 
(cut)  ;  abacus,  344;  square  plinths  and 
griffes  of  bases  in  north  porch,  346(cut) ; 
capitals  of  the  transept  and  east  end, 
343.  344  ;  facade,  230,  401 ;  nave  and 
transept  substantially  Norman,  426; 
portals,    230 ;    sculpture,   360,    of  west 


454 


INDEX 


front,  400,  402,  of  capitals,  407 ;  string- 
course, 347;  triforiuni,  219,  220  (cut). 

Westminster  Abbey,  the  most  Gothic  struc- 
ture in  England,  222 ;  apse,  226 ;  capi- 
tals, 344  (cut),  407;  east  end  of  apsi- 
dal  form,  226  ;  pier  arches,  217 ;  absence 
of  sculpture,  408. 

Whewell,  \\'.,  A7-chitectural  j\'otes  on  Ger- 
man Churches,  4. 

Whitby,  abbey  church.  Early  English  in 
form,  but  Romanesque  in  principle, 
210;  equilateral  arches,  217;  base  pro- 
files of  choir  of  clerestory,  345. 

Willis,  R.,  Remarks  on  the  Architecture  of 
the  Middle  Ages,  42 ;  "  Essay  on  the 
Construction  of  the  Vaults  of  the  Mid- 
dle Ages,"  4,  130'^;  Architectural  His- 
tory of  Canterbury  Cathedral,  198I. 


Winchester  cathedral,  length  of  the  nave, 

234. 
Windows.       See    Openings  ;      Clerestory ; 

Tracery;  Stained  glass. 
Woillez,    Eug.   J.,  Archeologie   des    Monu- 
ments Religieux  de  I' Ancien   Beauiais, 

etc.,  59I. 
Worcester  cathedral,  the   smaller   transept 

not   true    Gothic,  221;     cast  end,  228; 

tower,  232;  transept  fapndc,  228. 
Worms,  cathedral  of,  40 ;  date,  238 ;   vaults 

and  ribs,  238. 
Wren,  Sir   Christopher,  his    taste   for   the 

pseudo-classic  orders,  3. 

York  CATHEDKai,,  transept  not  true 
Gothic,  221;  chapter-house,  235  ;  tower, 
232 ;  wheel  window  of  the  transept,  228. 


European    Architecture 


A    HISTORICAL   STUDY 


RUSSELL   STURGIS,    A.M.,    Ph.D.,    F.A.I. A. 

President  of  the    Fine  Arts   Federation  of  Neiv    York;   Post-PresiJent  of  the  Architectural 

League  of  New    Tork ;    Vice-President  of  the    National 

Sculpture   Society  ;  etc. 


8vo.     Illustrated.     $4.00 


OUTLOOK 

*'  To  the  literature  of  architecture  no  American  is  better  qualified  to  make 
a  contribution  of  lasting  value  than  Mr.  Russell  Sturgis." 

THE   ARCHITECTS'    AND    BUILDERS'    REVIEW 

"  Mr.  Sturgis  tells  his  readers  exactly  what  the  purpose  of  his  Ijook  is,  and 
raises  no  expectations  that  are  not  fully  realized.  ...  It  cannot  be  too 
widely  known  or  too  carefully  studied.  .  .  .  Nothing  Mr.  Sturgis  can  say 
on  the  subject  of  architecture  can  fail  to  be  interesting  and  instructive.  .  .  . 
It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  this  single  work  forms  the  best  introduction  to 
the  serious  study  of  European  architecture  ever  published." 

THE    INDEPENDENT 

"In  Mr.  Sturgis's  'European  Architecture'  rare  good  taste,  simple  truth, 
and  great  knowledge  combine  to  satisfy  eye  and  mind." 


THE    MACMILLAN    COMPANY 
64-66  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York 


Building    Superintendence 

^    MANUAL   FOR    ARCHITECTS,    STUDENTS, 
AND  OTHERS  INTERESTED  IN  BUILD- 
ING  OPERATIONS   AS   CARRIED 
ON    AT   THE    PRESENT 
TIME 

BY 

T.   M.  CLARK 

Fellow  of  the  American  Institute  of  Architects 


8vo.     Illustrated.     $3.00 


There  is  hardly  any  practical  problem  in  construction,  from  building  ot  a 
stone  town  hall  or  church  to  that  of  a  wooden  cottage,  that  is  not  carefully 
considered  and  discussed  here,  and  the  book  is  consequently  of  the  greatest 
value  to  all  who  are  interested  in  building. 


Architect,  Owner,  and   Builder 
Before  the  Law 

i:y 
T.   M.   CLARK 

Author  of  "  Duilding  Superintendence  " 


Square  8vo.     $3.00 


This  book  contains  hundreds  of  references,  particularly  to  modern  cases, 
which  are  not  given  in  any  other  work  on  the  subject;  and  in  a  selection  of 
those  involving  the  most  important  technical  points,  the  exposition  of  those 
points  by  the  court  has  been  quoted  at  considerable  length.  It  is,  however, 
more  than  a  mere  statement  of  the  law.  being  a  valuable  book  of  reference 
for' lawyers  whose  ability  to  handle  building  cases  is  hampered  by  their  lack 
of  technical  knowledge  of  the  subject. 


THE    MACMILLAN    COMPANY 
66  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY,  LOS  iAJvJGELES 

Architecture  &  Urban  Planning  Library,  825-2747. 

>f»f>lf.ig  miF  nn  thp  lagf  , 


uci>  Q'Z] 
DFC  in  1986 


M 


1987  - 


MAY  111988 
MAY  0  3 1988 

REC'D  MiPU 

WAY  2  9  1,038 
my  2  8  1988 

REC'D  AUPl. 


PSD  2339  9/77 


^^m^i 


6  19! 
DEC  27  Ta^3 

REC'D  AUPL. 


OCT  28  1990 

OCT  3 1  1990 
RBC'D  AUPU 


UNIV.  OF 


CALIF.  UBUARY,  LOS  ANGEtBS 


^     > 

.-►'M-' 


UCLA-AUPL 

NA  440  M78(l  1899 


L  005  859  967  1 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


A    001  080  029     0 


i 


